Hail to the Chief! Love, Ruby
by FoxoftheDesert
Summary: RedQueen Week 2017 Day 4 - Alternate Universe It's Regina's big day. She's just been elected to an office she'd once believed beyond her grasp. As she takes her oath, she ruminates on the path that lead her there.


**Author's Note** : Hello, everyone! This is exceptionally long for a one shot, but I wrote it in 3 sessions and then couldn't imagine how to divide it into a multi-chapter fic because of the stream of consciousness format. It's very experimental for me, and from my perspective, the riskiest piece I've ever published because it involves politics. As a disclaimer, I'm not inviting political or religious discourse. This is a fictional story meant to be entertainment, and an examination of the kind of politician and person Regina _**might**_ could be with Ruby's influence in a real world setting. It's just my opinion, feel free to disagree, but let's not drag today's political shitstorm into it. I don't want to detract from the event, and frankly, I get enough of the vitriol from every direction in virtually every corner of the media/internet. That said, I'd vote for Regina for sure, so I can't deny my own philosophical/political/religious leanings are at least marginally represented.

Anyway, I've always been enamored of Regina as a politician. I mean, she is the Mayor of Storybrooke, and seemed to be amazing at the job, even if she was a shrew. In the PoD/AoF universe, I'd contemplated having Ruby encourage Regina to run for State Senate, but decided against it as it didn't make sense in the context and distracted from the narrative. This, I suppose, was sort of born out of that discarded consideration. As I wrote it, I thought RedQueen as a modern day incarnation of the Kennedy's, highly stylish, crossover appeal, charismatic as hell. I hope that's reflected in this. All the same, I wanted to ground it in OUAT lore. Thus the copious references and parallels drawn.

That said, enjoy! Or don't. That's up to you! I hope it's the former, though. Alright everyone. Peace out.

 **(Non)Standard Disclaimer** : They ain't mine. Just borrowing them. Don't sue me!

* * *

It's a chilly day in Washington when Regina takes her place at the podium. The wind is whipping through the open mall, and the enormous crowd is bundled up tightly in thick coats and a veritable smorgasbord of hats ranging from ten gallon saloons to star spangled beanies. Regina, on the other hand, is not arrayed to ward off the elements as are her enlivened constituents.

To present the right image on such a momentous day, she's assumed her tried and true battle armor. Her only concession for the event is that her exquisitely tailored navy blue power suit with a matching pencil skirt and a stark white tailored blouse that perfectly hug her curves is set off by a bright red ribbon tie. All the colors of the flag are represented without compromising the patented look that has come to define her political career.

It's been a long journey from her time as a small town lawyer fresh out of the Navy where she'd served eight years as a JAG officer. She'd not been practicing privately two years before her heavy-handed, endlessly ambitious mother all but forced her to run for Mayor. Winning that race in a shocking landslide established a momentum that has yet to see her lose an election.

At first, she'd attributed her success to her family name and her mother's far-reaching influence more than her stellar Navy service record and the unwavering perfectionism that drove her to always do the job to the very best of her ability. But when the two headstrong Mills women had a falling out that would last until mere weeks prior to her mother's death, Regina's path to political stardom did not experience a single hiccup. Her meteoric rise that began as Mayor of Storybrooke and which continued as a two-term State Senator from which she vaulted to Governor of Maine has culminated in the highest office to which an American politician can aspire.

Sometimes, it feels as if it's all been an upside down dream. When she was younger, she'd aspired to compete as an equestrian in the Olympics, after which she would settle down with the love of her life, have a family, and practice the law. Instead, her aspiration for athletic stardom died when she was sixteen and her beloved steed Rocinante, upon whose back she had set nearly every regional record in her preferred events, shattered his femur doing a routine jump during a practice session for the Nationals. Her father put him down that very same afternoon. And as she cried herself to sleep that night, Regina swore she'd never ride a horse again. As deeply as she loved the animals, that oath did not stand for longer than a year, but she never again rode competitively.

Instead, she devoted herself to her studies, and after graduating Law school a year early, entered service in the Judge Advocate General's office. Always an overachiever, she climbed the ranking ladder faster than any woman before her, earning a reputation as JAG's most ferocious and ruthlessly effective prosecutor, earning her nickname, the Evil Queen. Regina loved the Navy, but it was always a means to an end to her mother, who insisted she obtain an honorable discharge after her term expired, after which she returned home to a prearranged position with the D.A.'s office.

In Storybrooke, she attained notoriety for successfully prosecuting her disgraced boss, Albert Spencer, who murdered a well-liked young mechanic and then attempted to frame the twin brother of his deceased adopted son for the crime when the young man refused to use his position at the local animal shelter to launder dirty money and smuggle in illegal narcotics. The fame of landing that conviction catapulted her into the Mayor's office far sooner than Regina would have liked.

As Mayor, she relentlessly pushed for progress in multiple avenues of governance. In terms of criminal justice, she took a no-nonsense approach to violent crime and hardcore drugs while at the same time making significant headway in relaxing sentences for relatively trivial violations. The idea was to unclog the over-capacity local prison system. Naysayers aplenty mocked her naivety as the "unattainable aspirations of the young and inexperienced." Regina countered in the local by allowing herself to be quoted as saying, "At least my aspirations remain alive rather than being entombed in jaded dotage," and that "perhaps my detractors ought to actually try to do the jobs their constituents are paying them to do instead of ineffectually flapping their gums like a bunch of useless ninnies." Neither comment won her any friends in the local government, but it won her to respect of the voters, who rallied behind her initiative, which proved to be a rousing success. Thanks in no small part to the diligence of Storybrooke law enforcement and the suave but competent – and in more ways than one – Sheriff Humbert, her policies reduced crowding in the local prison right alongside crime statistics in virtually every category.

Socially, she initiated programs for disadvantaged youth by funding an activities center in which she personally participated by giving free monthly horseback riding lessons. She also incentivized the growth of families due to the population aging crisis by cutting taxes on households with two or more children, and stringently codified protections on the civil rights of all individuals both publicly and privately. She also cracked down on any and all discriminatory practices in the private sector, and to ameliorate any potential sting of such measures, made certain her own administration was in full compliance. She achieved this by reintroducing meritocracy to the government. Almost immediately after she took office, she instituted hiring by blind resume followed by a personal one-on-one interview, and encouraged all business owners within Storybrooke to do the same. This lead to a diverse administration of highly talented people who were every bit as driven as her to affect change in the world. For instance, her Chief of Staff – who would also become one of her closest, most trusted friends – was a white woman who overcame a broken childhood to become the most sough after political fixer in Boston before she tired of the corruption and sought out a fresh start in a small town. Meanwhile, her Media Chief was a black man who also ran the local newspaper, her head of infrastructure was an Arabic woman who descended from Persian royalty, and her H.R. director was a bisexual Native American woman who had open relationships with men and women alike during her term. Each had earned their position because they were the best of the best in their fields, and the city flourished for their prodigious skills.

Economically, she pushed relentlessly for sensible development of Storybrooke's natural harbor, expanded the export/import industries, and eased redundant or unnecessary restrictions on the local fisheries in addition to slashing their tax burden by ten percent. Almost every facet of the town's infrastructure was upgraded under her guidance, and she also successfully lobbied for a new industrial park to begin development on the south end of town that, while she didn't get to see through to fruition before moving on, had boosted the local economy significantly in the years since she graduated to the state Senate.

As a Maine State Senator, her accomplishments were muted due to the bureaucratic nightmare that was Augusta. But she preached her policies to every reporter who would listen, and made herself available to television stations across the state for commentary on a wide variety of subjects ranging from immigration, to common sense gun laws, to the vitality of maintaining wildlife both outside and inside the state's national parks. Still fairly young, openly opinionated, unashamed of her beauty, and enthusiastically single, she became a sort of media darling, which wasn't always a boon. Living on the front page certainly boosted her exposure, but it also cost her both of her parents and made any meaningful private life virtually impossible. That said, it was the springboard that ultimately landed her the Governorship, which Regina considers the greatest time of her life to the present.

As Governor, she was able to do much more for her home state than as a Senator. But it wasn't the success of her political career that so much defined that time as it was her suddenly full-to-overflowing private life. She married during her service as Governor of Maine, and had her first child, two things she never thought she'd get to have because of her choice – half her own and half her mother's – to sacrifice happiness for ambition after the devastating death of her fiance during Grad school. To be honest, Regina credits her burgeoning family life for putting her in the national spotlight. Her wedding had been televised nationwide, as if she was America's Diana or something. And when she and her wife adopted their son, their first family portrait landed on the cover of TIME magazine. Social media was abuzz about the establishment of a new Camelot in, of all places, Maine—the Southern Canada, the land of flapjacks and flannel, and the home of cheap lahbstah and tit-freezing winters. Before her second term truly got well underway, pundits were already speculating whether or not she intended to run for President.

Truth to be told, she hadn't thought much about it until her wife, Ruby, sat her down one night and laid out her opinion on the matter.

" _Babe, I love you more than anything. You know that, right?_ " Ruby had said.

" _Of course I do,_ " Regina had replied as she joined their hands.

She can remember how serious Ruby looked, how determined, with her brows knit together and her eyes brimming with encouragement. " _I know you have your doubts,"_ Ruby said, _"but I think you'd be an idiot not to jump at the chance to run. Not only for the sake of social progress, being that you'd be the first President in a non-traditional marriage who just so happened to be entering office on the heels of the first woman President. As awesome as that is, I actually believe you're perfect for the job."_ When Regina scoffed and rolled her eyes, Ruby squeezed her hands and gave them a reprimanding shake. " _I mean it! I told you once I really wanted you as my Governor not just as my girlfriend, but I want even more for you to be my President and not just my wife. So, please give it some thought? 'Cause I know I'm biased, but I really, really think you can win._ " When Regina frowned, unconvinced, Ruby adopted her best puppy dog expression – a crime against humanity for how effective it was. " _Pretty pleeeeease! For meeee?_ "

Regina simply couldn't resist such irritatingly effective pleading, so she agreed to more seriously consider running. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense, and the more she began to clue in to the groundswell of support for her that had spread to reach people far outside her sphere of influence, people with real political power and social capital and the means with which to leverage both. Finally after two years of indecision during which she tried Ruby's saintly patience, she took the plunge and scheduled a press conference for prime time on a Monday evening. With her family at her side, she formally resigned the Governorship and declared her candidacy for President of the United States.

" _Like my wife says,_ " she'd told the audience gathered at the Capitol as her closing remark, " _go big or go home. Well, I'm all in! How about you all?_ " Deafening cheers erupted from the crowd, along with a flurry of flashbulbs, and questions that her newly appointed Chief Strategist, Emma Swan, deftly deflected.

And so, one long, grueling, tribulation of a campaign later, she finds herself here, President-Elect, upon the same platform Kennedy, Reagan, and Obama once trod, with the eyes of a nation upon her. She tries to keep her composure as the Chief Justice greets her just behind the podium, and after dispensing pleasantries with the genial middle-aged gentleman, a gesture is made to the faithful woman lingering close at her side in a signal for her to extend the well-worn Bible Regina has provided for the occasion. It was her father's before it passed down to her upon his death, only to be stored away with other painful memories of him because at that time she had lost her faith and her sense of purpose along with it. Today, of all days, she wishes he could be here, to see her now, having reached beyond even the lofty heights of power her mother dreamed for her, and having done it all without losing her soul in the process. She has many people to thank for keeping her grounded, none more so than the woman who now holds the Bible upon which Regina will swear her third most solemn oath.

As she places her right hand upon the book, her nerves alight with as much excitement as terror. Out of habit, she risks a glance at Ruby for reassurance. Her wife of nearly eight years is simply stunning even though her elegant dress, so carefully color coordinated to match Regina's suit, is hidden beneath her overcoat. Ruby is the nation's – hell, the world's by this point – sweetheart, and what's more she is Regina's beating heart. No chances can be taken on her health, however monumental the event.

It's Ruby's smile that is most alluring, though, for she is beaming with such pride that Regina's chest swells with a roiling warmth that dispels the effects of the cold weather. In the light of Ruby's immutable devotion, she doesn't feel the biting cold at all. The phenomenon reminds her of another day quite like this one in which she'd first met the woman who would quickly become the most important person in her life.

* * *

 _ **Some years earlier...**_

 _After a grueling afternoon of meetings, Regina slips away for an unscheduled lunch break. The vultures she'd hired to conduct polling for her potential gubernatorial run have all but drained her of energy. Funny how sitting through an endless series of PowerPoint presentations meant to convey optimism regarding her potential chances of victory made her want to slit her own wrists. And for all of that smoke being blown up her ass, she had yet to be convinced the idea had merit._

 _But her mother had spent the better part of her youth inculcating a relentless ambition to not squander any opportunity to advance her career. And when several of her fellow state Senators had encouraged her to dip her toes into the water for the upcoming vacancy in the Governorship of Maine, she required little more persuasion. She's ashamed to admit that the peer pressure had any influence at all, but their appeals had frankly gotten to her. So she'd contacted the elite political strategy firm owned that just so happened to be owned by her mother's best friend from university, Bobby Gold._

 _For the past week, her face has been all over the local news and she's even got some national press following her with bated breath, which hasn't hurt her optics in the least. The anchors and pundits at two prestigious networks have mentioned her probable run as a stepping stone to the Oval, which to Regina is nothing short of absurdity. She enjoys politics, she really does, but she is a single woman nearing forty with no prospects of changing that status in the near future. Loathe as she is to admit it, so long as that is true, she has no hope of winning the highest office in the land._

 _It doesn't help that she has been outed as bisexual, either, sad a commentary as that is on the cultural landscape. What made that highly embarrassing unveiling worse was that it was a scandal she'd only barely survived with her career in tact. Her lover at the time, Mal Bauer, was a wealthy socialite with connections as deep as her pockets into which she dipped to smooth the whole incident over. Now, it is merely a minor blot on an otherwise spotless career. Or it would be were she not running for Governor. She's pretty sure the fiasco will see significant airplay over the coming months should she announce her candidacy, and it's likely that her character will be slandered with breathtaking enthusiasm by her opponents. But the mudslinging she is prepared to weather to make a difference in her home state is nothing compared to what she'd endure should those prognosticating pundits be proven correct should she leap for the final golden ring four, eight, or even twelve years down the road._

 _Frankly, the whole convoluted process of running a political campaign makes Regina sick to her stomach. As does the constant prattling of the tiny Australian brunette spearheading the research team Mr. Gold had assembled. Belle French is undeniably brilliant, but is also virtually a walking, talking brain that lacks any common sense whatsoever. Another one of the woman's assertions that Regina should disavow her beleaguered best friend, Kathryn, whose high profile investment firm is under SEC investigation for crimes committed by her now-deposed father, are likely to be met with violence._

 _To avoid unnecessary bloodshed, Regina assigns the research team to conduct a preliminary analysis on the issues that matter to the rural areas of the state with which she has only a passing acquaintance. With Belle distracted, she gives her Chief of Staff the slip. Emma Swan, a hard-nosed political fixer whose strong arm tactics earned Regina's respect long ago, is currently busy juggling several irons in the fire, mainly wrangling reporters that have set up camp outside Regina's office in anticipation of her announcement tonight that isn't supposed to be common knowledge and then tracking down the leak in their team that flapped their gums to the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time – or hopefully for their sake it was merely inadvertent. If Emma discovers a spy, well, things will get ugly._

 _After donning a nondescript pea coat and beanie, Regina shoves a large pair of sunglasses on her face to further deflect recognition on her impromptu adventure. For half an hour, she aimlessly wanders the streets of Bangor until stumbling upon a quaint little diner tucked quaintly in between a laundromat and a weathered-chic apartment building. Granny's Diner, the sign reads. The establishment is so charming, and Regina is freezing to the point of turning into a block of ice, so she ducks in quietly, then hastily moseys herself into a corner both upon noticing the sign indicating customers are to seat themselves. As of yet, no one has noticed who she is, which is unusual of late. Every time she's visited a restaurant since word leaked out of her decision to run, she's been exposed to chattering and staring in addition to the usual disgusting leers of those whose primary interest in her is knowing whether or not she and Mal had recorded a sex tape while they were together._

 _While she waits for her server, she peruses the menu consisting mainly of New England home-cooking options. A minute or so passes, during which a number of people walk right past her without showing any signs of recognizing her. Feeling safe for the moment, she finally allows herself to relax._

" _Hey, there. Welcome to Granny's!" a chipper female voice announces, startling Regina out of her lazy musing about what she'd like to eat. She'd been leaning toward the chopped steak, having been nursing a hankering for red meat for nearly a week. When she looks up from the menu, her breath is stolen right out of her lungs. The most beautiful woman she's ever laid eyes on is standing there holding a half-used order pad, large black-framed glasses sitting on her nose, and a pen tucked over her ear with her silken brunette locks tied up into a messy pony tail. The waitress, dressed in a snug Patriots tee over which rests a crescent moon pendant hanging from a thin silver chain and pair of jeans that must have been painted on, is gazing down on her with apology. "Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you."_

" _It's alright," Regina says after gathering her wits and wetting her suddenly dry lips. She arranges a polite expression onto her face as her insides warm, dispelling every last inch of the cold from her body. Her smile, while far from luminous, is more real than any she wears in front of the cameras. "I was lost in thought. No harm, no foul."_

 _The woman quirks her head in an almost canine way as her lips spread into a smile almost as gorgeous as she is. "Well, in that case," she says, chipper tone back in full force, "I'm Ruby. Can I start you off with a soda or some coffee?"_

" _Hi, Ruby," Regina returns, enjoying the way the name sounds and feels to speak. It's right somehow, as if the configuration of her lips and tongue were arranged just so those two syllables are uniquely effortless and pleasing to her. It's a strange thought, but she's been having a lot of strange thoughts lately, so she lets it slide in favor of answering the question. "I'll just take water if that's alright?"_

" _Perfect!" says Ruby. "Decided on lunch yet or do you need a minute?"_

" _I have. I'll take the chopped steak, cooked medium, and a side of fries."_

 _Ruby makes an obscene noise that shoots straight to Regina's groin before jotting down the order. "That's my favorite," she says as she scribbles, "I'd eat it every day if Gran didn't make me eat other stuff on the menu. 'Variety is the spice of life, girl!' Bah, I say. I'll take ordinary any day."_

" _I know what you mean. My life has been hectic of late, to say the least," Regina says. She's finds that she quite likes the idea that Ruby's grandmother owns the place and idly wonders if the too-pretty waitress plans to eventually assume ownership when her grandmother retires. Protocol, however, dictates she not infringe upon the woman's personal life. Smiling wryly, she adds, "Right now I'd kill for a little bit of the mundane."_

" _Exciting times at work?" Ruby asks, and not in perfunctory way. The way she leans her hip against the table betrays her genuine interest._

 _Regina nods, conflicted between telling this alluring creature the truth and maintaining the charade that she is just another run of the mill citizen in for a quick lunch break. In the end, her highly evolved sense of privacy wins out over a surprising desire to share her identity with Ruby._

" _In a manner of speaking," she says. "Let's just say the past few months I've been plucking out more gray hairs of a morning than I'd like."_

 _Ruby gives her a look of disbelief. "You? Gray hair? Nah. I don't buy it. You can't be over thirty."_

 _That draws a bark of laughter from Regina. "Either you are a smooth operator or you need to visit an optometrist ASAP. I'm far from thirty, dear."_

" _Well," Ruby says, giving Regina a once over that leaves her shivering, "you certainly don't look it. But," she straightens up then, "I'm not going to ask the lady her age because not only would it be rude, it doesn't matter in the slightest to me."_

 _Regina arches a brow. "You don't think so?"_

 _Ruby hums as she shakes her head, eyes growing hooded. "Nope," she says, then tucks her plump lower lip between her teeth. "I happen to think middle-aged women are where it's at."_

" _Oh?" Regina's response is throaty and low. She can hardly believe what's happening. Is Ruby flirting with her? She has a hard time judging, both from recent inexperience and her own cynicism._

 _After Mal, the only people who showed interest in her had an agenda to either hitch their wagons to a rising star or take a hearty swing at obtaining their fifteen minutes of fame. Regina hasn't dated seriously and only had two one-night stands since, both with friends with whom she had previous arrangements. Both Robin and Graham are good lays and discreet to the uttermost, but neither are long-term relationship material for her, as one is hopelessly in love with Emma and the other is trapped in a loveless marriage._

" _Yep," says Ruby, eyes twinkling now. "All that life experience combined with a confident sensuality that most women my age haven't developed yet is my kryptonite."_

 _Regina grins. "I see. Does that mean you're hiding a costume under those clothes and the glasses are merely for a disguise?"_

 _Ruby blushes prettily. "Hardly. I'm nothing special, and I wear the glasses because I have astigmatism in my left eye and am too chicken to get the corrective surgery my doctor insists I'm a perfect candidate for."_

 _Regina winces at the mention of Ruby's eye doctor. "Ah. I feel like a heel now for the joke about you needing an optometrist. I'm sorry."_

" _Please, don't apologize," Ruby says, a comforting smile on her face. "It's really not a big deal at all."_

 _Regina makes a noise of displeasure. Even with Ruby clearly not upset, Regina feels awful for inadvertently slighting the lovely young woman. "I still should've been more sensitive and respectful," she says, forehead crinkling as she chews on her mistake. It really was just like her to do or say something insensitive when she's met a pretty woman who looks at her the way Ruby does, as if she's worth being appreciated._

 _For some reason, she has no problem flirting with men. She has a theory that it's because that is socially acceptable. Therefore when she's engaged in banter with a man she's attracted to, she isn't plagued by images of her mother's disapproving stare or isn't able to hear that scathing voice in the back of her mind. Used to she didn't have a problem approaching women, either, but when the press had outed her affair with Mal, her mother was so awful to her that she severed all ties between them. It was the final offense she was willing to tolerate from the woman whose job description was supposed to include loving her unconditionally and always having her best interest at heart. In retrospect, her mother's interpretation of her best interest had always felt more like abuse._

 _After stewing a while on the hurt of having to cut off a parent, the schism became a relief, as she was finally free of judgment from her overbearing mother's refusal to acknowledge her or care for her beyond the recognition to their family she could provide. The resulting strain on her father, though, who was constantly torn between them, took such a toll that he keeled over from a heart attack not three months later. Regina still blamed her mother for that, as well as for her own inability to keep her foot out of her mouth around women to whom she is attracted. Which she most certainly is to Ruby._

" _Maybe so," Ruby says, still aggravatingly unruffled, and the way her eyes twinkle make them appear even more green. "I forgive you anyway."_

 _Regina offers up a stilted thanks and their eyes lock. For a moment they just stare at one another, lost in a budding attraction that is, to Regina anyway, totally irrational. They've only just met, for Christ's sake! But there is this pull in her chest that she simply can't dispense of. Nor does she want to when Ruby is so damn beautiful and looking at her as if she's the Eight Wonder of the modern world._

 _Their connection is only broken when the bell over the diner's door jingles loudly, signaling a new customer. Upon snapping out of the little daze, Regina's cheeks turning every bit as red as Ruby's._

" _In that case," she says after clearing her throat, "since I owe you one for my rudeness..." She leans in to stage-whisper, "I turned thirty-nine in September."_

 _For a moment, Ruby looks confused. But when it dawns on her Regina is supplying information she'd indirectly requested, she pales a little. "What? Oh...no. You didn't have to do that. I wasn't asking..."_

" _I know," Regina cuts off Ruby's cute rambling. "I'm offering."_

" _Well, damn," Ruby says, blowing out a breath. "I would never have guessed. You are aging_ ridiculously _well."_

" _Must be the Mediterranean genes," Regina quips, cheeks warming up at the kind compliment that, from Ruby, is abnormally acceptable. Normally she would have dismissed such flattery as a laughable attempt to get into her pants. Or scoffed derisively at the idea a young, gorgeous thing like this might actually be attracted to her in more than a hit-it-and-quit-it way like the rest of her aimless, transitory generation. Ruby, though, is so sincere that she can't help but flush with appreciation._

" _Must be," says Ruby, an impossibly enchanting smirk spreading over her equally becoming lips. "God knows I'll probably be a frumpy old hag in twenty years. Kinda like my Gran..."_

" _Don't even finish that sentence, girl!" a booming voice growls from behind the register. As Ruby gasps and cranes around toward it, Regina follows her widened eyes. The gracefully aged woman behind the corner, glasses perched at the tip of her nose, is glaring at Ruby through narrowed lids. Obviously this is Ruby's grandmother, who is none too pleased at their prolonged and perhaps overly friendly interaction. "And I don't pay ya to flirt," the silver-haired matriarch sternly adds. "So, take the lady's order and stop bothering her."_

 _Ruby nods, crestfallen and blushing with embarrassment as the sizable lunch crowd turns to stare at her. She begins to slink away, murmuring about Regina's order being put on rush for her troubles, but Regina stops her by grasping her forearm. Ruby glances down at her hand with a frown before turning confused eyes onto her._

" _You weren't bothering me, Ruby," she says. "Quite the opposite, in fact."_

 _A cautious hope blossoms in those enchanting green eyes. "Yeah?"_

" _Truly," nods Regina, who then releases Ruby to her duty. "I...enjoyed our repartee. Just the same you'd best be off before you get into more trouble. I'd hate to fear for your safety so soon after having just met."_

" _You're probably right that I need to get busy, but don't worry about me too much," Ruby says, smiling. "Granny has an awful mean bark, but her bite is gentle. Most of the time, anyway."_

" _There's a story there, I think."_

" _More than I have time to tell."_

" _Well, that's a shame. I was quite hoping you might be able to take a break in the near future and join me for a post-lunch milkshake."_

 _Ruby looks surprised for a moment before her features are overtaken by mischief. "Oh...I'm down for that. You should be careful, though. My milkshake brings all the girls to the yard. You might have some competition in the near future if you don't scoop me up!"_

 _Regina groans around her laughter. "Oh, my God. Has that line ever worked for you?"_

" _I dunno. You tell me." Ruby winks suggestively, then holds her hand out in a clear signal for Regina to pass her the menu before she departs._

 _Thrilled by the alarming development in their flirting, Regina hands said menu to Ruby, and she is only barely able to reign in the imperceptible trembling of her hand before it becomes noticeable. As they exchange the item, their fingers brush ever-so-slightly. An arc of electricity runs up Regina's arm, like she's poked her finger into 220-volt socket, and the current runs straight into her heart, which flutters both pleasantly and disconcertingly against her sternum. Quite unbeknownst to herself, she begins nibbling at her bottom lip. Ruby notices this, and smiles again. This time, her eyes crinkle at the edges, and Regina notices specks of gold amidst to foresty green as it dawns on her just how easy it would be for her to get lost in their depths. Totally arrested by this woman, and as if compelled by some mystical force, she leans toward Ruby, who leans in concert toward her. Their eyes flit back and forth from lips to eyes and back to lips again, but before their rapidly increasing proximity can draw unwelcome attention, an aggravated clearing of a throat breaks them apart._

 _Ruby backs away, flushed but smiling secretively as if she's not at all perturbed as Regina is about what just about happened. Meanwhile, Regina sits back with an audible_ oof, _befuddled but captivated, horrified at herself but undeniably tempted. There's a part of her that is angrily chastising herself for almost making a scene. But the other part is frustrated the thrilling moment with Ruby was interrupted. She finds that she very much would like to have sealed that kiss, and unlike any other normal temporary bout of attraction, that desire doesn't flee upon being so abruptly doused with the frigid waters of reality. This flame that has sparked between herself and Ruby, she'll soon find out, is one that cannot be put out._

 _After that, Ruby does her job to avoid her grandmother's wrath, though she sneaks in a few quick exchanges and a fair few winks that have Regina blushing to her roots. When Ruby takes her break as promised, they spend half an hour chatting about their lives in the most oblique terms possible due to Regina's hesitance to spoil the afternoon with weighty topics. She feels something during that interlude with Ruby that she hadn't since Daniel, whom she'd believed to be the love of her life, passed away suddenly at the age of nineteen. According to the doctors Regina didn't trust and who refused to order an autopsy even though she suspected something was amiss, he had a heart condition that went mysteriously undiagnosed when it normally manifests in children under the age of twelve. In the aftermath of that devastating loss, unable to find closure, she shut down emotionally. Since then she has yet to offer even a glimpse of her heart to any of her lovers. Even Mal with her risque sophistication and ridiculous curves couldn't pry off that armor. But Ruby casually peels it away as if it's made of paper instead of steel, and before Regina knows it, she's starting to get invested._

 _That isn't the real shock, though. No, the real shock comes when Regina gets the check. Beneath the receipt, upon the bottom of the original order sheet are three words in Ruby's cursive scrawl: "PLZ TURN OVER!" Regina obeys the somewhat obnoxiously bold command and flips the receipt over. On the back, Ruby has composed a note, half in English, half in modern text-speak she will soon discover translates precisely over to Ruby's text messages._

 _It reads as follows: "Good luck w/the announcement 2nite! 4 the way u make me feel alone u have my vote already. J/k! Not about the feelings but about the reason 4 my vote. Luv most of ur policies. Don't luv ur disdain 4 dogs tho. I mean, how can u not like puppies?! 4 real woman! Puppies r life! I won't hold it against u tho b'cuz u can still be converted from the dark side. ;) Luv, Ruby."_

 _Ignoring the way such improper grammar and atrocious spelling grates her nerves, Regina is a little afraid that Ruby had recognized her, and it casts a negative light on their interactions until she's walking out of the diner and catches Ruby's eyes. The saucy wink the pretty waitress gives her without even acknowledging who has just left her grandmother's restaurant – which alone if publicized would garner them an incredible business boost – is enough to convince her there is no malicious or misleading intent behind Ruby's forwardness. Just simple interest. For whatever reason, Ruby is attracted to her, and not just physically, either, as evidenced by their easygoing conversation._

 _Regina floats the entire way back to her office, giddy as a lark and invulnerable to the chill of a bitter New England winter. For the rest of the afternoon, she lounges on cloud nine and hardly gets any work done at all. As a result, she has to scramble to prepare for her announcement, which only goes off without a hitch because of Emma's drill sergeant preparation sessions over the previous days. That, and a strange need she suddenly has to live up to Ruby's expectations, inspires her to rise to the occasion. The papers all agree that it's the best speech Regina has given to date, but she doesn't quite believe it until she gets the next receipt from Ruby._

 _In what becomes tradition, Regina sneaks off every afternoon to Granny's Diner, just to see the statuesque waitress with the unbelievable smile. Not that the food isn't delicious, because it is, and Regina sings the little establishment's praises to all of her friends, which does some fair bit of good for the diner's business. Rather than waste any time speaking of politics, they have an unspoken agreement to keep the topics on the light side, such as Ruby's love of the Patriots and Regina's for opera and classical literature. This tradition holds for as long as the secretive portion of their relationship – soon to be consummated – lasts. During this period, Ruby ritually leaves her a note on the back regarding her campaign. It's the wonderfully unique way she chooses show Regina that she's not only engaged in the process as a citizen, but that she's engaged in the process_ with _Regina, which is an important distinction that makes Regina feel all sorts of marvelous things. Over the six months they are together on the down low, Regina collects a plethora of receipt-based notes, and they are so priceless to her that she keeps each and every one of them in an album she stores in her home safe along with her critical documents and her personal firearm._

 _The second one states: "Watched ur speech. Damn lady, u brought the fire! Luv'd it! Keep talking like that. The little ppl like me & Gran need someone like u to fight 4 us. A lioness not afraid to bite when roaring don't work! Also, I think that little thing u do with ur eyebrow when ur frustrated yet amused by what ur detractors think of u is so sexy! I damn near fainted from overheating when you used it while casually chewing out that dumbass reporter from ur hometown. Drizella Tremaine, ya? Funny name. Tremaine from Maine. She's a bitch tho. Just sayin… Luv, Ruby"_

 _A week later when Regina felt as if her campaign was in danger losing irrecoverable ground to the front-runner, Ruby wrote: "Talked to an old college bud yesterday who works in TV. Name is Mulan Chung. Works CBS Boston affil but has buds in nat'l news office. Convinced her 2 look u up, said u r going places. She liked what she saw & agreed like I knew she would! Can give u her # if u wanna contact? Matter of fact, mine is 207-555-7829. It spells RUBY. I paid SO MUCH 4 THAT! Worth it tho! I kno I'm a dork. But u luv it. Don't even deny. Call me any time, even if it's just 2 rant about that blonde, Masshole dictator running ur campaign! ;) Luv, Ruby" _

_Regina had mentioned that Emma was a hard ass once or twice, and Ruby had been particularly amused when Regina mentioned her nickname for her assertive Chief of Staff – and how in turn Emma referred to her as 'the Maineiac.'_

 _The thoughtfulness, humorous at it was, was most appreciated. In the end, she talked over Ruby's suggestion with Bobby and Emma, and they both agreed the exposure beyond Maine could do her some good in the future as well as the present. As it turned out, that interview with Mulan would resonate far beyond the gubernatorial race, as the young Ms. Chung would earn herself a spot on a national news program and be one of the leading voices championing Regina's platform when she took that next step._

 _A month later, Ruby left a note that_ _was evidence to Regina that their new physical relationship, which at that time consisted of regular rendezvous at a hotel Regina rented under her mother's maiden name, was progressing into something serious enough that Ruby felt secure voicing opposition to one of Regina's stances._

 _That note read: "Read the Op-Ed u wrote about the importance of separating economic issues from social ones, that while they aren't mutually exclusive they need 2 be addressed in vacuum where possible 4 the sake of progress. Not sure I agree. How do u separate the right 2 make an honest living like in the Declaration phrase 'pursuit of happiness' from the right 2 not be discriminated against in the workplace? Or the need 4 higher taxes on the 1% 2 support social programs 4 the poor? Maybe that's what u meant by 'where possible'? Or am I just reading it wrong? Genuinely want 2 know! Not picking a fight. Luv, Ruby"_

 _They resolve that by Regina explaining Ruby hadn't read it wrong, that she doesn't advocate total separation of these issues, only that it is important not allow social issues to exert undue influence over economic ones and vice versa, thus grinding forward moment to a halt. Sometimes, she has learned, progress sometimes comes with pain and compromise is not always a dirty word._

" _Which doesn't mean that pain shouldn't be blunted however we can," she tells Ruby when they discuss it later that night at dinner at the hotel. "Just that avoiding it altogether only delays it and often makes it worse. Sometimes, the band aid approach has to be taken. Take, for instance, the national debt, and how perpetual deferment by cowardly politicians has lead to a nearly unsolvable crisis our children's children's children will be paying for."_

" _Okay, I get that," Ruby says. "It's just the article read a little cold and harsh."_

 _Regina shifts uncomfortably, not liking Ruby's negative perceptive of a piece in which she had tried so hard to modulate her normal abrasiveness in order to be fair to those who held opposing stances. "I'm sorry about that. It wasn't my intent."_

" _I know, sweetie," Ruby says with a sympathetic smile. "Just maybe in the future you can try to be a little more delicate? Brash and bold is well and good on the campaign trail. I mean, it certainly works for you. But it can be a double-edged sword. Ya know?"_

 _Regina sighs, accepting that Ruby has a point. "I do. And thank you for your candor about your concerns. I appreciate that you confronted me instead of lying to keep the peace. I don't ever want you to feel pressured to be sycophantic just because we're..."_

" _Sleeping together?" Ruby cuts in, frowning slightly at the thought their relationship might somehow hinder her freedom of expression._

 _Regina clears her throat at the blunt tone. "I was going to say dating..."_

" _Is that what we're doing?" Ruby asks, arched brows doubtfully rising._

 _Before then, they had yet to put any kind of label on their relationship. For Regina's part, she just hadn't quite been ready for such an official step until she heard how vulnerable Ruby sounded beneath her attempt at stoicism. She gets the feeling listening to Ruby and observing her body language that her younger lover doesn't have that hang-up. It is clear to Regina then that Ruby is more than ready to go public and only abides by the unspoken wish for their affair to remain clandestine out of respect for Regina. The hurt Ruby is going to such lengths to hide puts a lot of pressure on Regina to make a decision, which turns out to be a good thing. Oftentimes she needs a swift kick in the ass to provoke her to struggle out of the miry pits she blindly wanders out into only to get stuck._

" _To me? Yes," she says emphatically so that Ruby has no questions as to her assessment of their relationship. Ruby has become more than simply her lover. One does not need or yearn for a lover the way she does Ruby. Yet, she still cannot bring herself to step out of the shadows with Ruby. And it isn't all because of her unhealthy fear of commitment. "You know why it has to be this way. Don't you?"_

 _Ruby sighs, sulking a little due to disappointment that isn't unfounded. "Yeah. Doesn't mean I like it, though."_

 _Wanting to ease Ruby's wounded feelings, she reaches for her hand. "Believe me, I know," she says as she tangles their fingers together. "I wish circumstances were different, and yet we are where we are. But it won't always be this way. So could you find it in your heart to bear with me a little longer? I'll make it worth your while."_

 _Ruby perked up instantly, just not to her usual gregarious standard. But having weathered the test, however minor it was, she'll take the victory._

" _Promise?" Ruby asks, eyes regaining some of their lustrous sparkle._

" _I cross my heart." Smiling, Regina makes a gesture that both corresponds with and emphasizes her oath._

" _I'll hold you to that," Ruby says, then shifts into humorous anecdote about her childhood, how she'd burst into tears when Granny first used the phrase because she was afraid her cantankerous grandmother meant it literally._

 _They spend the rest of their evening pleasantly enough, and then resume their daily routine as it was. But the change in Regina after that night does not go unnoticed. Gossip begins to percolate through the mill at her campaign headquarters concerning her mysterious absences of an afternoon and how she's started showing up to work of a morning with a smile on her face and spring in her step. Soon enough, people jump to conclusions and start speculating that she's seeing someone._

 _To get her coworkers – and nosy reporters when the gossip breaches HQ – off her back, Regina admits only to be involved with an "incredibly special person" and that, yes, it is serious but she values her privacy too much during the vulnerable early stage of their relationship to risk it. Furthermore she insists on wanting people to vote or not vote for her based on her policies and not for who she is or is not involved with. Added to that, Ruby's justifiable doubts plague her over the next five months like a disease in the back of her conscience that is only subdued by those precious notes, such as the one Ruby left the day after that first minor but alarming hiccup in their relationship._

" _I don't care who does or doesn't kno about us," it said. "U make me so happy. I just want every1 2 kno how lucky I am. But I'm also so damn proud of u 4 what ur doing & what u stand 4. U r an amazing woman, & I totes respect u wanting 2 be elected 4 ur policies & not just cuz u have a hot younga lova like moi! ;) I also __really_ _want_ _u 2 be my next Governor, not just my GF. I'm sorry if I made u think differently. I'll wait 4 u 4ever. There's no 1 else 4 me. Just thot u shud kno. Luv, Ruby"_

 _That particular one made Regina cry. It was an ugly cry, too. And when she let Emma read it, the stoic, jaded blonde was so affected by the romantic sentiment that she cried right along with her. It was at that moment that Regina knew Ruby was the one for her, too. Thus, she began plotting to give the newfound light of her life the reward she so richly deserves. That moment falls on the night Regina is elected, after a tight race with the Democrat challenger, as the first independent Governor of Maine._

 _Quite without asking, she has Emma pick Ruby up and drive her to campaign headquarters while everyone is celebrating the hard fought victory. The moment Ruby arrives, Regina steps up to the podium for her speech._

" _I'd like to begin by thanking everyone who voted for me," she says, voice carrying over din of the crowd thanks to the PA. After expressing her gratitude to the voters and for the tireless efforts of her staff, starring Emma Swan and Bobby Gold of Gold and Associates, Regina gestures to Ruby, who is hovering at the back of the auditorium. Like a deer in the headlights, she doesn't move, just stands there staring with saucer-like eyes until Emma impishly nudges her forward._

" _Last, but most certainly not least," Regina says as Ruby shyly makes her way up onto the stage, "I'd like everyone to meet the person everyone has been speculating about these past few months." She offers Ruby her hand, and as realization dawns for her girlfriend, tears flood those lovely green eyes. "This is Ruby Lucas, my girlfriend, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank her for being my inspiration since the afternoon before I announced my candidacy. The subtle shift in my campaign's tone lauded by the papers and the news pundits is largely due to her remarkably positive influence on me."_

 _She pauses to remove the mic from it's stand and then tugs Ruby forward until they are flush from breasts to hips. A gasp goes out through the crowd as they realize what is happening. Regina pays little heed to the cooing and catcalling from crowd as she presses her forehead against Ruby's._

" _Mostly," she says, eyes for no one else aside from Ruby although she is speaking to everyone through the microphone held loosely between their scarcely separated lips, "I want to thank her for showing me that I didn't have to sacrifice my ambitions for happiness. You see, in her I found someone who understands me, supports me, and loves me unconditionally. Her love is what gave me the strength to keep fighting when all I wanted to do was give up. Her love was and continues to be the light in my darkness that sees me through til the morning. Her love gives me hope, not only for me but for us all, because if I – the chiefest of sinners – have found so undeserved a gift as she is, then anyone can!"_

 _Overwhelmed by love, she presses a lingering kiss to Ruby's lips as the diverse crowd breaks into a cheer at their unorthodox PDA. But Regina doesn't care when Ruby has come to mean more to her than public perception, and has come to symbolize what she wants to offer to the people of Maine, supporter and non-supporter alive. After pulling away while careful to maintain her arm around Ruby's waist, she gives the amazing woman she is so madly in love with a brilliant grin before returning her attention to the crowd._

" _And that is what this campaign has been about. Hope," she says, conviction in her tone. "And it is what my administration will be about. Hope not just for me, but for everyone! Hope for today and hope for tomorrow! Hope that isn't just a buzzword but a concerted plan of action. Together, we can realize what the old Prophet Isaiah hoped for his people. We can bind up the brokenhearted and proclaim liberty to those unjustly captive. We can comfort those who mourn, give them beauty for ashes and a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. We can rebuild the old ruins, raise up the former desolations, and repair the ruined cities. However, we cannot do this by oppressing those who are different from us, whether that be in speech or in skin tone or in orientation or in creed. We can only achieve these noble goals by working together, unified in purpose for the common good while endeavoring to celebrate the individuality that makes each and every one of us special. Together, there is no end to what we can accomplish. So let's get to it, people!"_

 _The crowd roars in exultation as her speech concludes, and then booms out another deafening cheer when Ruby pulls her in for an amazing kiss that seals an amazing night forever in her memory._

 _The next afternoon when Regina leaves the diner, her receipt-note reads: "Can't believe u did that! My phone, FB, & Twitter are blowing the F up! Everyone's so happy 4 me becuz I landed 'a hot-ass sugar mama' or moaning 'Ruby Lucas First Lady of Maine? Send in Nat'l Guard! Disaster INC!' Bunch of a-holes. Haha! 4 real tho, I kno I said I wuld wait, but u made me the happiest girl on earth last nite. & that speech? Wowza! I was so pumped I wulda wrestled a full rage Hulk 4 u after that! Luv u w/all my heart. Luv, Ruby" _

* * *

The look in Ruby's eyes right now says exactly the same thing as the finale of her note, " _I love you with all my heart._ " It's an unspoken but easily translatable sentiment that Regina wholeheartedly returns before giving her attention to the Chief Justice, who begins to administer the Oath of Office. She diligently repeats the sections at every pause.

"I, Regina Elisabeth Mills, do solemnly swear..."

Her words are perfectly enunciated with smooth yet emphatic inflection, just as was drilled into her by her mother. The frequent preparation for this moment she'd been subjected to from childhood to the present enables her to function on autopilot. Which is a good thing, because it allows her mind to wander whilst her body, and seemingly her focus, remain affixed upon the proceedings which, without Ruby, would not be possible. Ruby is the honey that makes the tea of her life taste sweeter and go down that much more smoothly; she's the glue that holds Regina together when the pressures of politics threaten her structural integrity; she's the blindingly bright sun, providing refreshing energy to face a new day, and the pale, gentle moon bathing her in luminous tones of a love so resilient not even the darkest midnight can snuff it out. So while her mother had most assuredly groomed her for this, equally without question is that she wouldn't _want_ to be here today, standing in front of her countrymen so close to the finish line, if Ruby wasn't with her.

But today isn't just about Ruby's contribution to Regina's desire to give the fullest measure of devotion she is capable of in the civil service of her country. There is another source of motivation for her, and he is standing at Ruby's side, clutching tightly to his Mama's hand.

Their five year old son, Henry, is looking dapper in his little three piece suit that is black to set him apart whilst his tie matches Regina's and also shares the shade of the accents in his younger mother's dress. A ladykiller in the making is her beloved boy, the envy of mothers nationwide who coo wherever they go over his maturity so delicately balanced with undeniable boyish charm. Regina has been told more times the she can count on the campaign trail that she's a lucky woman, not just because her wife is America's sweetheart, the modern day Jackie sporting an even bigger, more beautiful smile that stops hearts from coast to coast, but because their son is the nation's darling. In the breathtaking whirlwind of a year's campaign, Henry has become a symbol of hope for an entire country's future. A heavy weight on such tiny shoulders, to be sure, but if anyone can bear it, she knows it is her Little Prince.

Henry is also an incredibly bright boy, which isn't shocking considering his genetic background. Both of his biological parents are high IQ, although one is decidedly lacking in character. Thankfully, her son does not suffer from that half-deficiency in his DNA. As smart as he is, he is every bit as honest and sweet. Once, Henry broke one of her precious medieval castle figurines worth thousands of dollars a piece because they'd been commissioned by Walt Disney himself just before his death. Tears in his eyes, Henry marched himself into her home office and confessed to the whole thing without needing prompting or scolding.

He'd been playing the knight out to rescue a maiden in distress, wielding his plastic sword against an imaginary hook-handed pirate foe that he claimed looked just like Emma's new boyfriend Killian. Honestly, that part made Regina want to die laughing because Killian's swashbuckling personality really did hearken back to that era of dubiously moral rogues living in the moment for plunder and excitement. She only had the wherewithal to contain her amusement and remain motherly austere due to the severity of the crime; she'd told Henry time and again not to roughhouse around the cabinet containing her figurines. After witnessing the crushing disappointment in her at losing one of her precious figurines, he never repeated the mistake. That was the kind of boy Henry was, good to the core, lacking even a drop of the rottenness she'd once believed herself to host after a lifetime of her mother's disappointment.

Honestly, Henry is everything she could have ever asked for in a child. She couldn't love him more even if she'd given birth to him instead of Emma, and sometimes that thought makes her want to hold him in her arms and never let him go. The world is a cruel place that will someday forever tarnish his innocence just as it had her own and, to a lesser to degree, Ruby's. The tragic reality of what inevitably awaits her son has made her painfully aware of why parents are willing to do almost anything to protect their children. If she could, she would take all of Henry's hurts and disappointments for the rest of his life upon herself and bear them gladly, if only to spare him from becoming acquainted with the frightening fragility and often bestial nature of humanity. If possible, she would give her life in assurance for his, without a second thought and without any regard for what agony might await her. But she can do neither, which more than anything else, has enlightened her as to the struggles her father dealt with on a daily basis, knowing what awaited her because of her mother's heartless designs on her life.

That endless affection and selfless devotion in her heart for her child also makes her wonder how it is possible her mother carried her to term, endured an excruciating labor, and then held her as she screamed with new life without succumbing to the inherent connection with one's offspring that is supposed to accompany becoming a mother. Regina hadn't given birth to Henry, but the first time she'd held him, so tiny and pink, as he wiggled and a fussed and cried and cooed, she'd known there was nothing in all the world she wouldn't give him and that there wasn't anything she wouldn't do to keep him safe from all harm. Her mother, on the other hand, had certainly provided her with plenty of material comforts as well as social and professional advantages, but had been woefully lacking in the departments that really mattered. It made no sense to Regina, and never would, even after her mother's terminal illness induced a long awaited apology.

With Henry, Regina sought out to correct every last one of her mother's mistakes. Had she failed in some regards? Of course. There were times she lost her temper and said things she regretted. Often she was too hard on him, perhaps expected too much of so young a child, and harbored too many lofty aspirations for him that drew alarmingly close to the vicarious obsession her mother entertained with her. The difference, in her estimation, is that she has Ruby. For as much as Regina loved her father, he was a weak man who never could stand up to his wife. But Ruby has no problem getting in Regina's face and telling her she's being a ruthless bitch when she's gone too far and seems to have a nearly unlimited supply of grace and mercy with which she showers Regina upon her sanity returning. As well, Ruby has this bright, inexhaustible flame of goodness inside her that keeps Regina warm on her most chilly days and shines a light into her thickest, most impenetrable darkness.

Henry has that same spark in him also. And that is something Regina desperately wishes for her son to retain as he, far too soon for Regina's taste, enters adulthood. However he turns out, though, she is determined to never take him for granted. Especially since there was a time in her life she'd given up hope on having children. The thought turns her brain back to the day she and Ruby finally sat down and discussed the topic that used to bring her such pain.

Two years after assuming office as Governor of Maine, Regina and Ruby married in what many hailed as the most extravagant and widely publicized event in New England since the Kennedy Camelot was in its heyday. By then, prognosticators were already projecting Regina to be a hopeful for the presidency. It was flattering to think of herself in the Oval Office, sitting behind the Resolute Desk, pen in hand and ready to sign groundbreaking legislation, but she had been content with her current lot in life. Making her home state a better place to live, work, and raise a family in was more fulfilling than she'd ever anticipated, especially since the latter was something near and dear to heart that she'd all but abandoned until Ruby entered her life.

When she was young and in love with Daniel, she used to daydream about their life together, about the house they'd build in the country with acreage enough attached on which to raise horses and room enough to contain a family of four or five...or maybe six if her experience with pregnancy was not a horror story worthy of some medical drama on TV. Daniel dying in her arms dashed those dreams into irrecoverable pieces upon the unforgiving stones of grief, rage, and subsequent bitterness that all but consumed her. Capping that seemingly endless well of negativity required Herculean effort. Eventually, she was able to heal from her loss and move on with her life, but her desire for children had felt as if it was buried right along with Daniel.

Oh, how wrong she had been! To her utter astonishment Ruby reassembled that once obliterated dream, and then presented it to her upon a golden platter with her uncommonly irresistible allure.

* * *

" _So, I've been thinking," Ruby says one night as they tackle the dishes as team. Ruby washes while Regina dries._

 _They'd enjoyed a lovely dinner courtesy of Chef Louis from La Petite Sirène, a coastal restaurant owned by a lovely couple from Bar Harbor. Ruby was instrumental in introducing the pair while they were all at university together, so when Regina was elected, she hired Ariel and Eric to cater the Inaugural Ball after her reelection as Governor. The venture was such a wild success that the delightfully quaint business exploded. In the two years since, they'd had to open up two more locations, one in Bangor and another in Stonington, with plans to expand further into New England in the near future. Regina was glad for the Andersen's, not only because she enjoyed their company but because they deserved it. They really were a lovely couple, and Ruby absolutely adored having them up to the mansion, especially when she could rope Ariel into singing languid Ella Fitzgerald tunes while Regina tickled the ivories on the grand piano furnished by the State._

" _Uh oh," Regina replies, looking worried. She wasn't keen on having them pleasant mood destroyed by a serious conversation. "Good news rarely follows that ominous intro."_

 _Sticking her tongue out, Ruby swats Regina's arm. "Oh, hush you. It's nothing bad. It's just...I was wondering if you'd revisited the thought of having kids?"_

 _Regina reels back a half-step at the out of left field question. When they were dating the topic had come up a time or two, but Regina generally shot it down. Thinking about children provoked memories of Daniel which inevitably soured her mood and put a damper on whatever fun they'd been having. She was mostly successful at modulating her irritability over that topic to avoid hurting Ruby's feelings, but one night after Ruby's best friend Mary Margaret visited with her son Neal, Ruby started to wax poetic about motherhood. Regina had been feeling unusually volatile that night, which was only exacerbated by the whiskey she'd consumed. In a regrettable fit of neurosis, she had unloaded all her frustration on the topic upon a shell shocked Ruby. Although Regina apologized profusely for her behavior, Ruby stopped mentioning the idea of them having children altogether._

 _That didn't mean Ruby had stopped thinking about it, though, which was obvious judging by the way she'd stare longingly at women pushing around baby carriers or get suddenly seem wounded as she perused her friends' Facebook postings heralding the feats and foibles of their rambunctious tots before quickly mastering her expression and sifting by them. Ruby did a good job of concealing her yearning to be a mom, but Regina was a perceptive woman by nature, and especially so where it concerned the most important person in her life._

 _Of course, Regina would lying if she said she hadn't thought about it also. There was no denying that the allure of having children with Ruby, who she thought would be an amazing mother, made her question her resolve to forgo reproducing. It was mainly her own parenting skills she doubted. Her mother hadn't set the best example except where it came to living vicariously through her child. That, Cora Mills had done spectacularly well. Which is why Regina was hesitant to entertain the idea of children beyond the painful associations with Daniel. Ruby had largely healed the latter associations, but the former remained a nagging pestilence preventing her from reaching for that last golden rung to complete her happy ending._

 _The shadow of her mother loomed large whenever Regina thought about kids, and when Ruby brought it up so suddenly, the twisted, manic visage of her royal highness, the empress of the Mills household and tyrant responsible for most of Regina's character defects, appeared ominously in the background._

" _Why?" she asks, staring at Ruby owlishly._

 _Ruby ducks her face down to study the dish she's currently scrubbing when it's already clean. Her eyes glisten with the beginnings of tears in the artificial light emanating from the fixture above the sink. "I was just wondering..."_

 _Feeling bad for her poor reaction, Regina takes the dish away and forces Ruby to look at her. "Don't do that. Don't lie to me."_

" _I'm not lying," Ruby says around a telling sniffle, her chin creasing as if she really wants to cry. She's trying so hard not to that Regina almost cries herself. "I've told you I'm happy with the way we are, and I still mean it."_

 _In that moment, something clicks into place for Regina. To this day, she isn't really sure what spurs her to take the leap, whether it's Ruby's crestfallen visage that she is so bravely trying to reign in out of pure love for Regina, or it's merely that the time has finally come in which Regina is at last prepared to face down her anxieties over her fitness to parent. Whatever the impetus, it happens the very second Ruby sniffles._

 _Her inner fortitude suddenly soaring to previously unknown heights, she grasps Ruby's face with both hands. "I know you're happy. But are you fulfilled in every way? Do you have everything you want? Or are you denying yourself because you think I don't share your needs?"_

 _Ruby looks so torn as to how to answer that Regina sort of hates herself for being the one responsible for such conflict. She's never wanted Ruby to feel as if her desires and aspirations would always have to come second. She's never wanted to impose her own shortcomings and stumbling blocks onto the only person who has ever loved her unconditionally, stood by her side through thick and thin, and fought for her when everyone else would have stayed silent. Ruby has been her rock, her champion, her inspiration, and oftentimes her very sanity. How awful a wife has she been, then, to deny the love of her life the one thing she craves most. For there is no doubt in Regina's mind that, other than her, a baby is what Ruby most desires._

" _Jesus, Ruby," she says, a solitary tear of shame and heartache strolling lazily down her cheek. "I'm so sorry I made you feel this way."_

" _It's okay," Ruby says, her own tears falling now. "I know why you don't want kids. You have every right to feel the way you do. I-I'm not trying to guilt you into changing your mind or anything..."_

" _For God's sake, stop it!" Regina shakes Ruby gently as she speaks. "Don't put yourself last, not tonight. For once in our marriage, I want you to put yourself first. So, for the sake of not having a roundabout discussion about this, I'm just gonna do what I do best and cut to the chase, okay?" Ruby nods, wide-eyed at her forceful tone. "Do you want to have kids? Yes or no?"_

 _A terrible moment of silence falls during which Ruby's struggle to lend voice to her heart plays out all over her face. It's not the first time in the last few seconds Regina has seen her look so pained at the idea of being honest and yet it hurts no less than before. Maybe even more. Because this fear Ruby is feeling is something she used to feel herself whenever her mother asked a question and demanded the truth be told...or else. It's agonizing to know she has, even if subconsciously, forced Ruby into an intolerable position such as the ones she'd endured on a daily basis throughout her childhood. She knows now that in some small way she has become her mother, and that is totally unacceptable._

 _Unable to help herself, Regina pulls Ruby forward and presses her lips to her wife's forehead. "Oh, my darling, my darling," she murmurs against the smooth skin, "I love you more than the moon loves the sun. Nothing you say is going to change that. So, tell me the truth. Do you want to start a family?"_

 _Ruby nods around a choked sob. "Yes. So damn much it hurts."_

 _Pulling back, Regina presses a serious of kisses to Ruby's cheeks, nose, chin, and then two heartfelt ones to her lips. "Okay, then," she says when they separate._

" _Okay, then, what?" Ruby asks, confusion etched upon her perfect features._

 _Regina smiles. "Okay, then, let's talk about it."_

 _For a second, Ruby just stares at her, blinking, as if she's just been told aliens from Mars have landed and demanded that the earthling named Ruby Mills must be their mediator with the inferior residents of this backwards planet. But then a smile spreads across her lips that transforms her entire demeanor. The hope that had faded from her eyes for a while returns in full force._

" _Are you serious right now?" she asks, breathless with wonder. "Please, Regina...don't tease me. Not with this."_

" _I'm not teasing you, love," Regina says as she strokes Ruby's lip with her thumb. "If you want to have a baby, there are a lot of things we need to discuss first."_

 _Ruby takes a shuddering breath to compose herself. "Such as?"_

" _The method, for one. Adoption? IVF? Surrogate?"_

 _Ruby nibbles at her lip before answering. "Any combination of the first with the second or third is good with me."_

 _Both of Regina's brows raise, but she does her best not to let her surprise appear negative. "So that answers another question. You want more than one?"_

" _Yeah." Ruby shrugs as if a little embarrassed. "I'm an only child and so are you, or you were until your half-sister showed up out of the blue when she saw you on TV. I just always wanted more than one. I guess, as much as Granny loved me, I got lonely as a kid."_

 _It's true, Regina's half-sister did crash land into her life up after watching her appearance on Good Morning America about seven months after her mother passed away. She hadn't known her mother had a child before her that she gave up, or more like tossed away like trash. Zelena was found abandoned in the woods to die with only a single item besides her pitiful clothing and inadequately warm blanket: a half-heart pendant inscribed with the bold letters CA and JR which conveniently joined flawlessly with the half bearing an M and W that came into Regina's possession after her father's death. Henry had found the pendant along with a birth certificate naming Zelena's parents, which incidentally matched the initials inscribed upon the joined pieces, but neglected to inform Regina out of fear of his wife's wrath. Put together with the birth certificate, the pendant being inscribed CAM and JRW was undoubtedly for Cora Anne Miller and Jonathan Robert West._

 _Zelena's entry into Regina's life was not at all smooth. The two were too similar and clashed the same as magnets of like polarity. But even their frequent bickering couldn't extinguish Regina's excitement at having a sibling. She'd prayed so often and so fervently for a sister when she was a child that to discover she had one was like a dream come true. Sure, that dream often made her want to tear her hair out, but it was real and it was hers. With her father having died and being estranged from her mother, she had blood family in her life again, and Zelena's abrasive personality was not enough to compel her to give that up. So when they clashed and stormed away from one another either equally enraged or in tears, Regina would run to Ruby, vent her frustrations, and when she was feeling calm again, call her sister to apologize if Zelena hadn't already done the same. Being the bigger person didn't come naturally to either sibling, but they made concessions for each other that they wouldn't for anyone else._

" _That's what family does," she told Zelena upon one such phone call. "Ruby taught me that."_

 _The point Ruby makes, then, hits home with marked accuracy._

" _I did, too, actually," she says. "I wish more than anything Zelena and I had been raised together. So, I'm game for two." Ruby squeals with delight, hopping in place as she claps her hands, which Regina finds both amusing and adorable. "But," she goes on, not wanting to get sidetracked by celebration since they were making such fine progress, "if we were to do IVF, it would have to be you to carry. I'm too old." When Ruby makes a noise of disagreement, Regina stops her from saying anything with a finger to her lips. "And don't bother getting all offended for my sake. I'm not saying that to slight myself. I really am too old to be going through that procedure. In my opinion, it would be both wasteful and risky_ _when you are in the prime of your youth."_

 _Although Ruby looks like she still wants to disagree, she huffs out her concession. "Okay. Fine. I'm more than willing to do that, even though you are totally not too old!" Regina gives her a look, which has Ruby rolling her eyes with annoyance. "Anyway! I think if I'm being honest, I'd prefer IVF first. Maybe it's silly, but I want to have that connection with our firstborn, for both of us to experience pregnancy, and labor, and all of that fun stuff."_

" _It's not silly. Though none of that sounds particularly fun to me," Regina says, imaging the discomfort and pain Ruby will have to endure ahead of the many positive aspects of her spouse's pregnancy. "However," she adds as those positive things start to take root in her imagination, "I will admit that the thought of you large with our child, glowing even more than you usually do, is quite appealing."_

 _Ruby grins, then salaciously waggles her eyebrows. "Oh, it is, is it? Got a thing for pregnant ladies I'm unaware of?"_

 _Regina scoffs...and then smiles when amusement overtakes annoyance at Ruby's teasing. "Don't be ridiculous. I just have a 'thing' for you. Even when you're the size of a small boat."_

 _Ruby pulls a face that's an amalgamation of comically scandalized and on the verge of laughter. "Gosh, you say the sweetest things."_

 _Regina hums thoughtfully, ignoring her wife's admittedly humorous reaction. "What can I say? You make me feel sappy." Ruby rolls her eyes a second time, and then shuffles closer until they are delightfully meshed together from hips to breasts. Once Regina winds her arms low on Ruby's waist, she ducks in for a quick kiss and then says, "So we're decided then? We want to do IVF first, and then try to adopt?"_

 _If the sun had been shining in the middle of the kitchen, it would have been a mere mote compared to Ruby's luminous smile. "I'm in if you are."_

 _Regina nods, her mind made up. And once she's made her mind up, there is no changing. Something Ruby has long since learned._

" _Then let's do it."_

 _And then, at Ruby's insistence and with Regina's wholehearted approval, they take the rest of the night to celebrate with their clothes off._

* * *

"...that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States..."

As Regina speaks the next portion of the Oath, she think of how the plans she and Ruby made that night did not quite work out as expected. Fortunately for them, the obstacle their responsibilities presented turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The main reason they were unable to immediately begin the IVF process was that the summer season was simply too busy for Regina to block out the necessary time to be with Ruby through her procedures. Since there was no way in hell she wasn't gonna be there every step of the way for the mother of her child from conception to birth, they'd had to delay, which caused Ruby more than a little melancholy.

But almost as if it was fate, a solution presented itself soon thereafter when in early fall, Emma Swan, Regina's lauded and faithful Chief of Staff who had served her since she was Mayor of Storybrooke, found herself pregnant via one night stand with Bobby Gold's wayward, miscreant son, Neal. Neither of the adults responsible for that accidental pregnancy were interested in being parents, and Emma – for reasons she has never disclosed – hadn't wanted to abort. Since being an insider and a friend meant she was aware of Regina and Ruby's decision to start a family, she gingerly broached the topic of adoption after one of their daily staff meetings. Needless to say, Regina was caught completely off guard...and very intrigued, even though she was inclined to say no simply because of her close ties to Emma. She wasn't at all convinced it was a good idea to adopt the illegitimate son of a woman who was not only her most trusted associate but also her closest friend aside from Kathyrn.

As would happen many times over the years, Ruby and Emma unfairly ganged up on her to convince her to agree. In the end, though Regina vehemently protested their bald manipulation, the result was more than worth it. Regina loved her son more than her own life, and every bit as much as she did the two little human tadpoles currently attached to the walls of her wife's uterus. The twins are due in September, and Henry can hardly wait to meet his new siblings – whether brothers or sisters or a combination depending on their sexes. Nor could the nation for that matter.

Ruby had scheduled the procedure for early December, long in advance of Election Day, while being fully aware of the hectic schedule about to be thrust upon them should Regina be selected as the next President of the United States. With the uneasy business of transition from the previous administration, planning for the inauguration, selecting the cabinet, and the countless hours of work awaiting Regina once she was sworn in, it wasn't an ideal time to be adding to their family. But Ruby was dead set upon it in that stubborn way that was a little too much like Regina's. All opposition was, therefore, rendered futile. Her wife wanted a baby, and she was damn well going to get one. That was that. People like to believe Regina wears the pants in their relationship, but the fact is, half the time all she can do is trail in the wake of Hurricane Ruby in little more than her barely-there daisy dukes.

Out of respect for the election process, they agreed to wait until after Ruby's eight week ultrasound to announce the pregnancy. It was at that appointment that the bomb was dropped they were expecting twins, which wasn't unheard of IVF. Also as agreed, Regina was allowed to choose the donor. She selected an individual with a nearly identical socioeconomic and ethnic background as her who Ruby remarked sort of actually looked like her if she was a 6'2" jazz musician without her famous curves and prominent lip scar. She still isn't sure how to feel about the way Ruby stared at the man's picture as if she wanted to devour him. Except that at least she knows Ruby would have wanted her no matter what package she had come in...or with...

Regina imperceptibly shakes her head at the direction of her thoughts as she repeats the first portion of the Oath of Office. From behind Ruby's shoulder, she catches a glimpse of sparse, wispy red hair and thick spectacles. Her heart warms up all over again as she remembers the nearly catastrophic incident that reacquainted her with a man who has come to be so much more to her than spiritual advisor.

* * *

 _Regina was raised a Catholic. Her father's family in Spain were of prominence and had deep ties to the Church, and thus were devout practitioners. He'd carried over his own belief when he immigrated in his twenties. Her mother, on the other hand, was an avowed atheist who spouted Nietzsche's "God is dead" spiel at every opportunity. Regina was christened into the Catholic Church and permitted to attended mass with her father once per month as a compromise, and up until she left for college, she shared her father's faith, just not quite a zealously. Her broad studies in combination with Daniel's tragic death cured her of that weakness. Or at least it did until the day her entire world shifted precariously off axis._

 _It happens about a year into her first term as governor. Just like any other ordinary Wednesday, she's been reading a report from the Department of Agriculture when Emma bursts through the door of her office, red faced, out of breath, and with unshed tears in her eyes._

" _Drop the report and get your shit together," her Chief of Staff says without preamble, and the panic in her normally even voice destabilizes Regina to the point her hands begin to shake. "We've got to go. Right now!"_

 _Regina's heart stops cold in her chest, and the chill spreads down through the rest of her body with dreadful velocity. She gapes at Emma, stuttering uselessly before finally squawking out, "What the hell is going on?"_

" _I just got a call from Victor Whale," Emma says as she bustles around the office gathering up Regina's things. The name sends a frisson of fear down Regina's spine. She knows who Victor Whale is and doesn't need Emma's explanation, though it's given just the same. "He's head emergency surgeon at Maine General, and a personal friend. He called me because someone of notoriety was just brought in." Emma stops her frantic movement then, stands straight, shoulders back as if about to stare down the giant. There is such torment upon her face that Regina's throat dries up in anticipation of the news she is sure she does not want to hear. "I'm sorry," Emma goes on after a moment of gathering her wits and her breath, "there's no easy way of saying this. It was Ruby. She's been shot."_

 _Regina gasps and moans simultaneously as her frame shudders and her legs falter. She has to grasp the edge of her desk to keep from falling to the floor. "No, no, no...this can't be happening. This can't be happening!" Her cries echo through the room like a doleful lamentation. A pall descends upon the room. She clenches her eyes shut against the worst. "Is she alive?" When no answer is given, she wrenches her eyes open. "Emma! Is she alive?"_

 _Emma nods weakly. "Yes. But she's in surgery, and from how Victor sounded, it's serious." At that, her spine returns and a look of resolve comes over her that says she is once again fully in charge of the situation. "Now get your phone and purse and let's go. We don't have time to waste!" She claps her hands when Regina just keeps staring, as if unable to process yet that time is of the essence. "Hey! C'mon! Get a move on, lady!"_

 _Regina complies without further comment. She can hardly remember rushing from the office and then removing her heels so that she could run after Emma, who takes off down the hallway toward the staircase. They forego the elevator, ignoring the stares of employees as they dash like bats out of hell down three flights of stairs, erupt like banshees into the main lobby, and then sprint madly for the exit. Regina doesn't even notice until she is tucked away in Emma's garish yellow beetle the woman insists on keeping that she has drenched her cheeks with tears without even making a whimper. The downpour doesn't relent the entire drive._

 _All she can think about sitting there in the uncomfortable seat as Emma whips through the busy streets of Augusta is Ruby flat-lining on the operating table. How she'd caterwaul and scream incoherently when the doctor broke the news that her partner wasn't coming home ever again. How she'd spend the next few months working herself to exhaustion and then drinking until she passed out. This would likely continue until it truly sank in that Ruby was dead. Dead. A corpse rotting in the ground who would never smile at her again, never laugh that laugh that sounded like an angel's joy, never hold her hand while they watched TV, never make love to her until she couldn't see straight or stand without wobbling like a degenerate wino, never kiss her awake or make her coffee just the way she liked it or tell her she loved her, craved her, adored her, respected her, worshiped her, and would never, ever, ever leave her. The only outcomes Regina can see at the end of that insufferable road of misery is a loaded pistol under her chin or a conviction for homicide shortly after the perpetrator is tracked down, and both_ _possibilities terrify her to the core. Jail will not suit her prissy personality. And she most certainly isn't ready to die. That said, she isn't ready to live without Ruby, either._

 _She is snapped out of her godawful thoughts by Emma's loud insistence that she 'get her ass up and get moving right now, damn it all, or I'll pick you up and damn well carry you inside!' Regina doesn't want to be carried, so she gets her ass up as ordered and follows her blonde drill sergeant into the hospital. Everyone stares as she enters. No one in the state of Maine is unaware of their rock star Governor. But when they catch sight of her face, of the grief wracking her from crown to heel, their initial chattering fades as if a tumbleweed carried away by a gale-force wind._

 _Somehow, she gets to the waiting room attached to the surgical ward. She thinks Emma grabbed her hand and all but pulled her along in the wake of the kindly nurse who guides them to their place of vigil for the next two hours. During that time, Regina is either sitting on the edge of her seat, rocking to and fro while worrying her hands together or she's pacing like a caged tiger too long deprived of bloody meat and having been one too many times exposed to the biting of the whip. Her teeth grind together painfully. She wants to break something, wants to tear the door off its hinges in her rage and smash everything in sight until the hospital corridors look like the inside of her heart, tattered, broken, in shambles, an absolute, unmitigated disaster area that is long overdue condemnation and then given the piteous relief of annihilation._

 _On the verge of going nuclear, she tells Emma she's going for a walk and is out the door before any response can be given. How she arrives at the chapel she doesn't know, except to say that she believes providence had a hand in it. When she spots the altar at the front of the little room, she halts, her heart arrested as guilt, horrible, suffocating guilt, chokes the breath from her lungs. As if the devil himself were nipping at her heels, she scrambles into the sanctuary and falls roughly to her knees before it._

 _Hands clasped together, she stares pleadingly at Jesus upon a bisecting beam, crown of thorns digging into his scalp, blood dripping down his face. The Catholic Cross._

" _Forgive me Father, for I have sinned," she prays aloud, not caring that she doesn't have a priest with which to make confession or that she might not even be alone. She's desperate. So very desperate. More desperate than she has ever been in her life or ever will be. "It's been twenty years since I made confession, and to be honest, I don't have time to do it adequately. I'm a failure. I admit that. I've failed you more times than I can count. I've failed my friends. I've failed my state and my country. And I've failed the only person I've ever truly loved more than myself." She pauses, gasping out a broken sob as her eyes flood with a new downpour of tears. "But please...please, I beg of you, I implore you, I beseech you with every ounce of faith that is left within me...please don't make her pay for my failures! Spare her. Let her live. Take me instead. I gladly and freely offer myself in exchange. I'll do anything. Anything! I'll even burn for eternity if you will save her."_

" _I don't think he'll ask that much."_

 _The voice startles Regina out of her manic prayer, and she swirls around – nearly falling on her ass – to find a familiar face studying her from the front row pew with a great deal of sadness._

" _F-father Archie?"_

 _Father Archibald Hopper was her favorite priest at her father's parish before she stopped attending post-graduation. He was young then, not much more than ten years her senior, and had a head full of ginger hair to complement his honest face. Time has not been kind in the former regard, though it's generosity is apparent in the latter._

" _Glad to see you've not forgotten me," he says, then pats the space next to him. "Why don't you sit for a minute and we can talk."_

 _Regina does as he asks, and once she's sitting stiffly at his side, she sniffles away an embarrassing string of snot. "I guess you heard my little meltdown."_

" _I wouldn't call that a meltdown. I'd call that progress."_

 _Regina glares at him as if he's grown a second head. "You have a strange definition for the word."_

" _Maybe so," he says with a polite shrug. "But to me, that sounded like the Regina I once knew. The one that hadn't grown bitter towards God."_

 _Shoulders drawing in defensively, Regina nearly growls out her response. "I was bitter for a reason."_

" _I'm aware. I don't begrudge you that bitterness."_

" _You don't?" Regina doesn't hide her surprise when she'd honestly expected a lecture. Father Moore, the bishop who'd served the parish she attended with her father, certainly would have launched into a lengthy one detailing how unbecoming it was for a Catholic to express any questions toward God's actions._

" _No, Regina, I don't," says the meek priest. "How can I when I, too, have been bitter toward God?"_

" _You have?" Regina shows her astonishment for a second time. Archie had always projected such inner serenity that she was sure he was practically God's B.F.F._

" _Of course," he says, then adjusts his glasses as he smiles. "I'm not perfect. Far from it. I'm human just like you, and I don't always agree with his plans. Sometimes I kind of hate them if I'm being honest. But that doesn't mean I don't understand that even if I can't see it, he's working things out for my good, just like Scripture says."_

 _Regina shakes her head in disbelief at his stalwart faith. It seems so irrational to her to believe that even horrific tragedies such as this are intended for the benefit of those suffering. Frankly, it's one of the impediments_ _that have kept her journey of faith on again, off again. There is so much suffering in the world, most of it needless, that she can't fathom how any high power can stomach it, which makes it more difficult to accept some favorable outcome might be in the working only said power is privy to. The whole idea reeks of haughty disdain for the lesser beings for whom said power is supposedly responsible._

" _I don't see how you can say that," she says, bitterness leaking into her tone. "What possible good can come from my partner...my innocent, pure, angelic Ruby...getting shot down like an animal for trying to do a good deed?"_

 _Emma had found out what happened to Ruby while they waited for word on the surgery. Apparently she'd decided go for a walk downtown, and as she passed by an alleyway, heard a commotion. Upon investigation, she stumbled upon a woman about to be raped. Ruby being Ruby didn't think twice before springing into action. She hadn't seen the gun the man was holding against his victim's head. Before she could even react, he swirled on her and pulled the trigger, sending a .357-caliber missile hurtling toward her chest. The intervention stopped the assault, and as the man fled, the woman Ruby saved tried to stop the bleeding while screaming at the top of her lungs for someone to call 911. That woman, to whom Emma had spoken after she was checked out by a doctor, was so grateful she was still seated in the front lobby awaiting the outcome of Ruby's surgery. Regina hasn't gone to see her because the part of her that is proud of Ruby for her heroism and thankful a woman was spared that terrible indignity is currently subservient to the darker part of her that is enraged Ruby is being made to suffer in someone else's place._

 _Father Hopper draws a deep, contemplative breath before responding. "Well, sometimes God has to work around what people are responsible for. Haven't you read the verse, 'He sends rain upon the just and the unjust?'"_

" _I have, but I don't see what that has to do with this..."_

" _I didn't either for a long time. It's delivered by Jesus in the connotation of loving our enemies, which is a hard pill to swallow for the most sanctified of us." His expression reflects he has had trouble downing that horse pill, also. But then his eyes soften and that otherworldly peaceful smile spreads across his features as he launches into an impromptu sermon that touches Regina's hardened heart more than she is willing to admit. "And then I realized it was also Jesus' way of saying that sometimes life just happens. You see, God designed the universe to work without requiring his constant attention. And work it does. Every day new stars are born. Galaxies collide. Black holes swallow up vast regions of space. I'm sure out there somewhere among the cosmos, life is flourishing on other planets besides our earth, some of it may be as intelligent as us. Or more so, even. All of this goes on without the captain having to steer the ship, so to speak. That's the beauty of creation._

" _By the same token, people are given free will. None of us are God's slaves. Each of us have the unrestricted choice of what path we take in life, and which road we take ultimately defines whether or not we are good or evil. Take Job, for instance, when he lost everything he had, his family, his wealth, and his health, he could have done as his wife suggested, cursed God and gave up. Few would blame him. Instead, he bowed his face to the ground and worshiped."_

 _Regina scoffs derisively at the suggestion that she should direct praise to anyone who could inflict such undue misery upon the person most undeserving of it. "I'm not about to worship a god who could punish so undeserving a person as Ruby," she says. "She is one of the few good things in this world, and she's fighting for her life right now for the unpardonable crime of saving a woman from being raped! And I'm supposed to what? Be thankful for some lesson this pointless tragedy is supposed to teach me?"_

 _Archie isn't the least bit perturbed by her anger. Calmly, he listens, and then responds with equal calmness. "It's not pointless, though. Nothing that happens is pointless. And secondly, God is not punishing Ruby. Tell me, did he pull that trigger and cause you all of this anguish?"_

 _Although the point is well made, Regina obstinately crosses her arms over her chest. "No..."_

" _Then unfortunately what has happened is it tragically rained today on someone just," he says. "But tomorrow it may well rain justice upon the unjust perpetrator who has so cruelly hurt your partner. God does not forget those who work iniquity in this world. Read Psalm Thirty-seven if you need a reminder of that. And, Regina, please don't lose sight of the fact that Ruby is not dead. Not yet. Who knows what the future holds? Don't be so quick to assume the worst when the best may be right around the corner. And...if I may be so bold, while you may not be ready to worship God, you certainly were ready entreat him on your partner's behalf. That tells me there is still a spark of faith within your heart, even if you don't want to acknowledge it to me or admit it to yourself. But that's perfectly fine. The Lord is patient. And so am I."_

 _Regina ducks her head at the mild-mannered priest's grace in the face of her animosity. She is truly touched by this man's boundless compassion for her, someone he has admitted to having been hurt by when she lapsed, and for Ruby, someone he has never even met and yet clearly cares for. And yet she burns with indignation that she's surrendered to an old weakness that she'd thought herself cured of. He's right, there is a spark of faith still alive inside her heart, and at that moment, it's inviting warmth makes her want to scream._

" _I'm not saying any of this to hurt you," Father Hopper then says, sensing her turmoil. "Rather, I'm hoping to help you see things from another perspective. There is still hope. And as long as we have that, we have something to anticipate."_

" _I guess we'll see soon enough whether my hope dies," she says, and then stands prepared to storm out without another word. She's heard quite enough preaching, however benevolent the intentions were behind it._

" _Regina..." She stops near the door at the entreating call of her name. When she glances back she sees Father Hopper approaching. "I'll be praying for your Ruby. And for you, just like I have every day since I was introduced to the brightest little girl I've ever met."_

 _Heart in her throat, bitterness mixing with stubborn hope the infuriatingly pious and kind man has inflamed, all she can muster is a pathetic, "Thank you, Father."_

 _Three and half hours later, Dr. Whale delivers the wondrous news. Ruby is going to live. According to Victor, she'd narrowly dodged certain death when the bullet nicked her sternum, deflecting its path just enough to miss her heart by less than an inch. As it is, the trajectory avoided every vital vessel and organ, and the surgery only took so long because of the precarious positioning of the bullet, which miraculously did not fragment upon impact. Before departing to check on Ruby in post-op, he pronounces his patient one of the luckiest he's ever operated on. Regina, though, believes differently._

 _After rejoicing with Emma for God knows how long, she rushes back down to the lobby. True to his word, Father Hopper is at the altar, on his knees with his hands clasped and his head bowed. And although he is silent, she knows he's praying for Ruby out of the seemingly infinite depths of his amazingly tender heart._

 _He's barely standing upon her noisy entrance when she launches into his embrace. Good man that he is, he recovers quickly and holds her fast while she sobs and sobs and sobs for so many different reasons that she can't possible lend voice to them all without sounding like a deranged lunatic. She's thankful and angry still yet so happy that she could burst. Right alongside those prominent emotions, she feels as if she's made a turn, that somewhere between the altar and the good news she has rediscovered the faith implanted in her at an early age by her father. Her prayer, however impious, however desperate, however wretched, however unworthy of being answered, has received a response, and of the best sort she could have conjured up._

 _Science and medicine may be able to explain how Ruby is alive against all odds, but Regina knows in her bones that there was an unseen hand guiding that bullet to strike in such a way that Ruby would survive rather than die instantly as she should have. To everything there is a season, she remembers, and a time to every purpose under heaven. And this one was, as Father Hopper tried to tell her, to teach her a good many things. For one, that she ought to better appreciate Ruby because life is fragile and fleeting and not guaranteed from one moment to the next. But also, she becomes convinced that she has a greater purpose to fulfill in which Ruby is instrumental. Whether it's to be the greatest damn Governor the state of Maine ever had or some higher calling, she doesn't yet know. But she does know that she wants it, that she wants to realize her true potential, to walk in her destiny, and to cast aside the petty doubts and fears that have kept her from becoming her best self._

 _If she doesn't owe herself that, or God, she most certainly owes it to Ruby. And when she tells Father Hopper all of this, he simply smiles at her with watery eyes, and says, "I think you're right. I think you have a higher calling. And I can't wait to see you step into it."_

* * *

After that, Regina started back to mass once per month. Within a year, she was going weekly. And pretty soon after that, she convinced Father Hopper to take on a new role in her life beyond serving as her priest. More than anything, he became her sounding board, her voice of hope and reason that she could trust to be objective when Ruby's opinion seemed a little too biased. He was a therapist in a collar without the fancy degree and comfortable couch, and a better one than money could buy in her estimation. In his humbly gentle way, he'd staved off a few potential backslides of faith and many train wreck-esque explosions of rage that even Ruby couldn't tame. Beyond that ameliorating effect on her volatile temper, he was an additional, and welcome, force for good in the sometimes evil world she inhabited as a professional politician that even Ruby, agnostic as she remains, has the utmost respect for. After all, it was Father Hopper who married them and christened Henry, and will do the same for their unborn children.

Religion is not something she intends to force on her children, though. Her father, she thinks, set a perfect precedence for compromise in a marriage between a believer and a non-believer. That in mind, she sat Ruby down before Henry was born and together they hammered out a similar agreement. Once per month, or twice on special occasions such as Easter and Christmas, the children would attend mass with Regina, while the rest of the time they would remain home with Ruby. The arrangement worked splendidly, especially since Ruby was not nearly as vociferous in her agnosticism as Regina's mother was. And although Ruby has never once indicated any change in her attitude toward religion, for moral support and, Regina thinks, out of a fondness for Father Hopper, she has begun to occasionally attend the once per month mass Henry accompanies her to. Whether that trend continues once Regina assumes office remains to be seen.

As happy as she is to have Archie present on the dais alongside her family, including her sister and Emma – and indeed many more friends and family who are in the crowd below like Ruby's grandmother, Kathryn, Mal, Ariel and Eric, Mulan, and even Dorothy Gale, Ruby's ex with whom she has remained friendly – there are two glaring absences that Regina cannot help but feel mournful over. The first is her father, of course, the man who'd been responsible for sewing whatever goodness lives germinated within her soul.

Henry Sr. was a gentle, soft-spoken man whose love of horses, classical music, and erudite literature inspired Regina's taste for the same. There were times she missed her Daddy so badly that she was forced to reign in her tears lest Henry or Ruby see and begin to worry needlessly for her mental state. She missed his sage advice that often went ignored because she was too headstrong and ambitious – like her mother – to heed it. She missed his hugs and the way he smelled of rich cigar smoke and spicy cologne. Most of all she missed hearing the adoration in his voice when he told her how much he loved her. Regina was never ignorant of her status as the apple of her father's eye; she'd surely abused his abiding devotion to her often enough before he died and left her bereft of that tether to meaningful human affection. If it hadn't been for Ruby, she probably would have continued to degenerate into a callous, heartless, shrewish woman her mother at her most awful would have been perversely proud of.

But as much as she loved her father, it is her mother's towering influence that casts the longest shadow. For it was Cora more than anyone else who shaped Regina into the hard-nosed politician capable of weathering the storms of temptation and corruption that hover forebodingly over every center of bureaucratic power in the country, from the local level all the way up to the federal. Were it not for her mother's policy of spare the rod, spoil the child – one of few Bible verses the woman found useful – Regina could not have withstood the many setbacks and deeply cutting hurts that she has experienced on her road to power.

Pain was something Regina had learned to tolerate from a tender age at her mother's unyielding hand. She can still remember the indignity of being made to fetch the thick steel ruler with which her punishment would be administered, whether to the backs of her thighs or the palms of her hands, for her latest failure, and feel the stripes as if they were freshly laid. She can still hear the endless admonishment for every mispronounced word, every lapse in posture or social etiquette, or every incorrect answer to the extracurricular learning she was demanded to pursue parallel to her lavishly expensive private schooling. She was taught to endure the shame by being sent to bed without dinner having disappointed her mother in some minor way or by being made to walk the five miles to school in the uncomfortable shoes that went with her uniform, her skirt leaving her bare legs showing along with the marks upon them, which school administrators would ignore because they feared Cora Mills every bit as much as Regina did, while her mother kept pace behind her and reminded her every minute or so as to the reason for her sore feet and stinging thighs. The unfeeling, uncaring, singularly ambitious woman that had raised her ensured that nothing she witnessed or heard in the realm of cutthroat politics could phase her. She was immune, having been overexposed to physical suffering, emotional neglect, mental conditioning, and constant judgment over every little thing she did or said.

And yet, as monstrous as her mother was, she can't help but wish that she was here. That she could see her mother's face right now as she is so achingly close to becoming the 47th President of the United States of America. The unfiltered pride she is sure would be visible would render all of that hardship irrelevant. For as much as she'd needed her father's tender love, she has lived for her mother's approval. How sad it is that she only received it when the woman was on death's door!

And as the Chief Justice states the final phrase of the Oath of Office, she closes her eyes just a brief second and imagines her mother was with her.

"...and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me, God."

* * *

 _Regina is awakened from her nap on the office couch by the obnoxious music blaring from her cell phone indicating an incoming phone call. As a hands-on-style Governor, she doesn't get as much rest as she'd like, so she takes whatever opportunities she can to catch up on shut-eye. There had been an hour gap between her obligations, so she'd crashed on the couch and told Emma to wake her should she be required before her next scheduled meeting._

" _Dammit, Ruby," she mutters as she unfolds herself and stands slowly so as to not topple over immediately. As she shuffles over to the desk and snatches the phone off it, she makes herself a mental note to review her text and ring tones, as it is apparent Ruby has abducted her phone again to make a mess of things._

 _She quickly swipes to accept the call, not bothering to heed the Unknown Caller ID in her haste cut to off Rebecca Black's gag-worthy ballad to the current day of the week. Her annoyance bleeds into her brusque greeting._

" _What?"_

" _Regina, it's your mother."_

 _Regina nearly drops the phone in her shock. Which would have been tragic considering how much the state paid for it. When she recovers, her voice is unsteady. It's been almost twelve years since she spoke to the woman._

" _Mother. I...I wasn't expecting to hear from you." She wants to add, 'ever again' but doesn't out of a fear that will probably never go away for the totalitarian parent who treated her more like a soldier to be ordered about or a pawn to be sacrificed than a daughter._

" _After our last parting, I imagine not," her mother says, sounding more tired than Regina has ever heard her._

 _Regina winces at the memory of the last time she was in the same room as the woman who gave her life and then spent every waking moment afterward dictating the direction of it. It was the evening after some random blogger posted pictures on their site of Regina kissing Mal Bauer in the corner booth of their favorite little getaway restaurant. After slinking in the back door of her townhouse because the front door was already camped by bloodthirsty reporters and photographers out for the freshest meat on the market. A Junior State Senator who'd bedded the most eligible woman in New England, both of whom just so happened to be women, was a story that had front page written all over it._

 _Regina wasn't even properly in her living room with her coat off before her mother, who had flown up from Boston early that morning and let herself in using the key she kept because the townhouse belonged to her, went on a rant of epic proportions. On and on she droned about how Regina had ruined her future, and for what? A roll in the hay with a degenerate hussy who kept more dollars in her wallet than she had brain cells residing in the vacuous chasm between her ears. Her mother always did have a flair for insults, something Regina inherited, so she gave as good as she got as she colorfully suggested that if her mother had let anything other than her Parisian bought undergarments touch her privates in the past twenty years, maybe she would understand what it's like to be passionate about someone._

 _That had been the wrong thing to say. Her mother, a cruel streak in her eye, went on to describe, and in great detail, the intricate dragon tattoo sprawling across the flesh of Mal's back, described the way Mal kissed, her preferred methods of being penetrated and the ferocity with which she reciprocated. Regina had been so disgusted, so horrified, that she'd just stood there like a bass on the hook, jaws working uselessly up and down though no sound came out. Her mother didn't finish the diatribe until she'd made sure Regina understood that Mal didn't love her, couldn't love her, that Mal's affection was bought and paid for by favors or for what influence her lovers could afford her. According to Cora, she had Mal on standby at her whim in exchange for keeping her firm on retainer should the heiress socialite's illegal habits become...unmanageable._

 _Heartbroken, enraged, hating herself for giving in to the blonde viper's charms, Regina swore she was done. She was done with her mother. She was done with Mal. She was done with her career being dictated to her by a woman who corrupted everything she ever loved. It became clear as crystal then that her suspicions about Daniel's death that she'd so naively allowed to be explained away were not so crazy after all. That her mother had played a part in his demise because he was leading Regina off the path that had been so painstakingly carved out for her before she even breached the matrix and became a breathing entity within the world. Somehow, her mother had found out that they were planning to elope and move away to Montana where Daniel's family ranch was located where they would raise horses and babies and grow old together. The way her mother grew stiff and cold at the accusation all but confirmed it._

 _Had Regina not fled the apartment – out the back door again to avoid prying eyes – she is sure she would have attempted to murder the woman in a frenzy of rage. As it was, she only barely made it two blocks before she was skittering into a darkened, abandoned alleyway just in time to hit her knees and vomit up the dinner and wine she'd shared with Emma, a reward for a successful lobbying campaign for an increase in budget to her district's K-12 education. After shuffling away a few feet from her sick, she curled up into a ball against the brick facade of whatever building accessed the alleyway and cried until she ran out of tears._

 _Somehow she scrounged up enough strength to call Emma, who rushed to her location and all but scooped her up and carried her to the same awful Volkswagen she's had since shortly before her brief stint in prison for a crime she didn't commit. Regina crashed at Emma's that night. And the next. And the next three months after that until she found a new place. Her mother's countless calls all went unanswered, and when the woman herself showed up at Regina's new apartment, the door was shut in her face. She broke up with Mal the next day, and two days after that, announced her plans to resign her post – for personal reasons – at the end of the session._

 _But then, just like that, the entire scandal went away. People stopped talking about it, about her, about Mal, and for a while that confused Regina a great deal. Then it occurred to her that it had to be her mother's doing, that the influential puppet mistress was pulling strings behind the scenes to smooth the road for Regina to resume her trajectory toward forever shattering the greatest of glass ceilings. The thought infuriated her so much, she scheduled another press conference intent on resigning immediately. If it weren't for a fortuitous call from Mal altering those plans, her career would have ended that very day._

 _As it was, Regina's former lover tearfully confessed over the phone that she'd leveraged her vast resources and her deep network of connections to make the scandal go away. Not for her own sake, or for Cora's, but for Regina's, because there were great things in store for her. Of course, Regina didn't believe a word Mal's tearful apology until she learned that her mother had, indeed, left for Boston the day after Regina slammed the door in her face and hadn't been heard from since. That was the confirmation she'd needed to rescind her plans to vacate office._

 _Even after that noble gesture, it took a long time for her to trust Mal enough to again consider the woman a friend. But she'd accepted the apology all the same because it came with a plea for her to set aside her anger for the sake of minorities of so many stripes who could one day look up to her for inspiration. When she discussed what Mal said with Emma, her friend agreed that her career was too important to squander over her heartbreak. In the end, she decided to ride out her term and see how things went._

 _That, as they say, was that. But it was also the end of her relationship with her mother for all intents and purposes. The phone call this morning is the first they've heard from each other since that calamitous encounter at the townhouse._

" _I know that things are strained between us," her mother says, breaking her thoughts. "I was hoping you might be willing to see me. There's something we must discuss."_

 _Knowing her mother isn't in the room with her, Regina nonetheless grimaces. Much time has passed, but the hurt of that day is still an aching pulse that has never really faded._

" _I don't know, mother. The things you said that day about Mal..." She takes a faltering breath. "However true they were, I can't – I won't – permit you to disparage Ruby that way."_

" _I have no such intentions, Regina. In fact, it was your lovely bride who convinced me to reach out to you."_

 _Regina's brows furrow deeply. Ruby has said nothing about speaking to her mother, which she most certainly should have if it's true. "You've talked to Ruby?"_

" _Yes."_

" _When? Why?"_

" _Regina..." Her mother sounds her old self for the first time, coiled up with tension and ready to explode. She hears a deep sigh before her mother continues, "I understand your confusion, my dear, but that's a discussion I'd prefer to have in person. I'm checked in at the Homewood Suites on Western Avenue. I've left instructions at the help desk for you to be given a key. You may let yourself in."_

" _Mother..."_

" _Please, Regina," her mother interrupts, sounding worryingly urgent. "I...I need to see you. It's important."_

" _Alright, alright." She sighs out her acquiescence in addition to verbally expressing it. She then checks her watch for the time. "Give me an hour. I have a meeting I can't miss. I'll come straight afterward."_

" _Very well. I'll be waiting. Goodbye, Regina."_

" _Goodbye, Mother."_

 _The tension that found it's way into Regina's shoulders upon hearing her mother's voice doesn't leave her the entire afternoon. Even on the way to the hotel, she's little more than a bundle of electrically charged nerve endings all firing at random so that she's a complete wreck by the time she parks her Mercedes in the lot. By the time she's walked inside, been escorted to the suite belonging to one Cora Mills, knocked on the door, and waited for an answer, she has nearly worked herself up into a frenzy._

 _The second the door opens, she barrels through. "I'm crazy to be here," she says without preamble, leaving her mother gawking in the doorway. "After all you've done? What you did to Daniel? What you said to me that night? I want you to know you nearly destroyed me. I left Mal because of you. Almost resigned twice. I started drinking again, worse than after Daniel died and more often. If it weren't for Ruby..."_

 _By the end of her rant, her mother has closed the door and cautiously approached. "I know, Regina. I'm sorry. I truly am. What I did to you was unforgivable. Not just that day. I've...I've never been a good mother to you. And I know you have no reason to believe my sincerity, but you should also know I have no reason to lie. Not now."_

 _Regina stops her pacing to glare at her mother, not liking the intimation of some vague threat against her, Ruby, or even worse, their two year old son. Eyes hardened, she crosses her arms as she stands towering over her mother, who seems to have shrunken six inches since they were last in the same room together._

" _What's that supposed to mean?"_

 _Rather than answer, her mother indicates toward the living room with which the suite is accommodated. "Come, let's sit."_

" _Mother..."_

" _Regina! Come with me now to living room. We can sit and have a proper conversation like grown adults."_

 _The imperious tone from her youth compels Regina's obedience. Flinching in fear, she follows her mother's halting steps into the modestly but tastefully furnished space, where they both take their seats, Regina upon an armchair tucked into the corner of the room while Cora sits primly upon the comfy looking couch. Rather than begin the conversation, her mother sits as though a woman spawned from Ancient Sparta rather than a small dead-end town in Arizona near the Mexican border. Her skin is wan instead of it's normal luster and she looks woefully underweight, but the strength of her will is unchanged by the passage of so many years._

" _There is no good way of saying this," her mother says after an unbearable span of silence in which Regina fidgets just like she was a ten year old again and about to get a verbal reaming. "So I'm going to just come out with it. I'm dying. Pancreatic cancer. The tumor is inoperable."_

 _The pronouncement, so stoically delivered, is like a sledgehammer to Regina's sternum. All of the blood vacates her head, and her vision blurs until she can hardly make out details. "Oh, my God. Mother...Have you…?"_

" _I know what you're going to say," Cora interrupts. "There is no fighting this. I hired the best oncologist in the country to review my case. The disease was simply discovered too late to do anything about it."_

 _The finality of the prognosis has Regina bending over at the waist, arms wound round her stomach to hold in her mounting panic. She's just been reunited with her mother only to lose her? The perversity of the tragedy is overwhelming._

" _Oh, my God. Oh, my God..."_

 _Her mother gazes at her with a soft sympathy she didn't know the woman was even capable of. "I know this is a shock, honey, but I've made my peace about it. Now I need to make my peace with you."_

 _Half-sobbing, half-in shock, Regina searches her mother's face for any indication this might be some sort of ploy to lower her defenses. Sick as the idea is, she wouldn't put it past Cora. Well, the Cora she'd known anyways. There was every possibility the broken yet proud woman sitting before her is not at all the same who'd once made Regina wish upon the stars she'd been born poorer to a mother who might actually love her._

" _How are you proposing to do that?" she asks, hating how suspicious she sounds under the ostensible circumstances. "How long do you even have?"_

" _Less than four months."_

 _Regina jolts as if hit in the face with a frying pan. Her face probably looks about as malformed and unattractive as had that actually been the case._

" _God! And you expect to fix...this?" She gestures wildly between them. "Our twisted relationship? In four months?"_

 _Her mother gives a mournful shake of her head. "No. I don't expect to fix anything. I only wish to do what I can to make what amends are possible. And perhaps," her eyes turn hopeful, "cajole you into letting me meet my grandson."_

 _Regina white knuckles the arm of her chair at the idea of introducing Henry to her mother. Her mother. Who single-handedly ruined her childhood and almost broke her a thousand times over. Her mother, who cared less about her than about what she could do for the family name. Her mother, who likely commissioned the murder of the first person Regina truly loved other than her father. It makes her nauseous to think of exposing her son to such danger._

" _I...I don't know if that's such a good idea."_

 _For the first time, her mother actually looks like a dying woman. Old, haggard, weary, with sunken cheeks and glassy eyes, ready to keel over at a moment's notice. The effect this has on Regina is undeniable._

" _Please, Regina," Cora says, truly begging for the first time in Regina's memory. "If only just once. I've missed so much, and the pictures and videos Ruby showed me are just not enough…"_

 _Regina explodes out of her chair, irate and in full mother bear mode. "You've been talking to Ruby about our son?"_

 _Cora shrinks back a little at Regina's thunderous expression. Never before has the woman appeared afraid of her, and Regina would be lying if she said that it didn't thrill her a little to know she was now the one in control. That she now had the leverage with which to destroy the heartless bitch responsible for her every dark thought and dark impulse, for her every character defect that announced itself at the worst of times to hurt her beloved wife or her precious little boy. For a moment, just one terrifyingly sweet moment, Regina revels in the seductive power that her mother had bathed in daily for so many years…_

 _And just like that, the spell is broken when Regina realizes in mute horror how easily she could, at any moment, fall prey to the same vices that strangled nearly every ounce of human decency out of her mother. The same forces work upon her and within her that created the monster who did not hide under the bed but lived out in the open, in her face and on her case, always watching over her shoulder, always ready to pounce on every little deficit in her that the beast within simply could not tolerate, and always gleefully waiting to inflict punishment for those faults, however minor. The very possibility that she could devolve into the kind of parent to Henry her mother was to her is a bucket of ice water, a slap in the face, and a punch in the gut that enables her to at last take pity upon the wretched soul now reduced to beseeching her as if a humble peasant for only a pittance of affection. All born of a desperation to have some sort of human connection before death comes to collect its dreadful due._

" _Only what she's been willing to share, which is more than I deserve. She really is a lovely young woman. You chose well."_

 _Her mother's words wrench Regina to the present conversation. And although she is more willing than she was a moment ago to have mercy on the woman, she suspects there is yet more she is not privy to._

 _Eyes narrowed, she sizes her mother up, daring the woman via her posture to lie to her so she could have excuse to walk out the door and never look back. "What else aren't you telling me?"_

 _Cora takes a shuddering breath, then scrapes a bony hand over her face. "I lied on the phone. I've been here for a little over three months, going to Maine General for an experimental treatment that didn't work."_

 _A half-truth, Regina can tell. Her mother is not as good a liar as she used to be, perhaps because of the illness or perhaps because subconsciously she is simply tired of deception. "There's more. Tell me." Her mother waffles for a moment, which grates at Regina's already perilously frayed nerves. "Now, mother!" The response is one that floors Regina._

" _Ruby has been the one taking me to my appointments."_

" _What?!"_

" _Now, Regina, don't be angry with her. I swore her to secrecy," Cora says, for whatever reason on the defensive now for Ruby's sake. Which does not sit well at all with Regina. Her mother then semi-lamely offers, "She was only doing as I wished."_

 _All of Regina's outrage dumps out of her as if an upside down bottle uncorked. "Jesus. Jesus. I...have to sit down again." Legs wobbly, she plops back down into the chair and runs a shaky hand through her hair. "So let me get this straight. You contacted my wife behind my back and then roped her into ferrying you back and forth to your appointments for an experimental treatment for an inoperable tumor which is going to kill you in four months."_

 _Her mother nods. "Correct, though I did not rope Ruby into anything. She volunteered her aid after learning of my...predicament."_

 _Regina scoffs, not hardly as angry with Ruby as she had been a moment ago. "Of course she did. Stupid, gullible, big-hearted oaf."_

 _It really was just like Ruby to do something so selfless, and so foolish. The woman had a heart the size of Texas but all the discernment of a blind archer asked to hit a bullseye from a thousand yards with a rubber-strung bow and a gnarled twig for an arrow. Ruby was the person who dropped loaded shopping bags on the crowded sidewalk to escort little old ladies across the intersection. And while that compassion so dangerously mixed with gullibility often got her in trouble, Regina wouldn't change it for anything. That innate goodness and reckless willingness to see the best in everyone was what made Ruby special._

" _Is that any way to speak of your wife?" her mother says, sounding outraged on Ruby's behalf._

 _Regina bristles at the haughty tone. As if that woman had any right to lecture her on such matters! "You tell me," she shoots back caustically. "I heard you say much worse about Daddy."_

 _To her credit, Cora takes the barb like a champ. "Yes, well...I wasn't the best role model to imitate. Now was I? If I remember correctly, you once declared you'd rather die than be anything like me. Don't go back on that assertion now, dear."_

 _Regina makes a noise of frustration as she comes out of her seat again. "Don't do that. Don't turn my words back on me! Not you!"_

 _Her mother calmly regards her with those nearly black orbs that had once seemed capable of swallowing Regina up at a glance. "Who else can? Regina, however horribly I've let you down, I am still your mother."_

 _Regina lets out a bark of derisive laughter. "Are you? You sure as hell have never acted like it."_

" _I know that now. Believe me, I do." says Cora, who dares to stand and approach. She looks so frail that Regina doesn't even bother to protest. It well and truly sinks in then that her mother is dying, and therefore has every reason to at long last be honest about her failings in seeking, as she claims, to make amends. And with tears pooling in her eyes she listens to the speech she wishes had come long before now when it is almost too late to make any notable difference._

" _These past few years I've been following you closely," her mother says, touching Regina as she speaks in tender little caresses she wouldn't have dared to lavish up her daughter when she was a child. "I watched you blossom into the woman you are right now, someone able to love without surrendering strength. Someone I didn't think could possibly exist. In doing so, I finally saw just how wrong I was not to give you what you deserved instead of what I wanted on your behalf._

" _Power, I learned, is not everything. It seems like it when you're young and healthy, but when youth fades and vitality_ _wanes, one realizes that family and love are not worth sacrificing to obtain it. I saw that so clearly when I saw that you had gotten everything I ever wanted without giving up your conscience, your heart, or your soul in the process. I should have done so many things differently. But if this diagnosis has taught me anything, it's that it's pointless to wallow in regret. Time is precious. I don't want to waste any more of it fighting with you. I want to spend what time I have left trying to be the mother I should have always been. I'm not so deluded as to believe I'll attain any kind of status as infinitesimally saintly as that wife of yours, but I want to give it my best shot._

" _This is it, Regina. This is all we have. In four months, I will be gone forever, and more than anything I don't want you_ _to have regrets. Mine are sealed immutably. But you? Honey, we can make the most of this time, so that when you look back, you'll know you did everything you could, not for my sake, but for yours and for your family."_

 _For the longest time, Regina just sits there staring at her mother. The tears refuse to fall though inside she is falling apart with such rapidity that Humpty Dumpty would be jealous. But then it hits her. Those two phrases. 'In four months, I will be gone forever.'_

" _I don't want you to die," she says, and it comes out more of sob than a statement. "I should, but I don't. I don't want you to die, Mother. I want you stay. I need you to stay. I can't...I can't...l-lose you. Not now..."_

 _And then the dam breaks and she collapses under the weight of her grief. Somehow, her frail mother catches her, holds her up with thin arms that her fragility falsely suggests are_ _incapable. Secure in her mother's embrace for the first time in her life, Regina cries. Ugly, gasping, heaving sobs that rock her almost as hard as when Ruby got shot. It is the moment that begins a healing between them that spans the entire four months of her mother's downward spiral towards terminal velocity._

 _When she gets home, Ruby is waiting, pacing the living room and looking on the verge of a mild panic attack. She'd got a call from Cora after Regina left. Her mother was worried she might be angry with Ruby for the secret keeping, which she sort of is, but not really. Not when all she can see when she opens the door and meets those green eyes that never fail to make her heart stutter is that her wife's stupidly big heart has opened a door to reconciliation with her mother that otherwise would have remained shut. Forever. All she can see is how perfect and beautiful, how worthy of every last ounce of Regina's love Ruby is. So Regina calls Emma to keep Henry, and that night she loves Ruby with every ounce of energy she has, until they both see stars and can hardly breathe for panting, until they are exhausted but sated. And even though Regina cries afterward over her mother's pending departure from the circles of the world, Ruby is there to hold her, to reassure her that it will be alright, that they'll get through it together like they've done every other tribulation visited upon them since they became a couple. And she's right._

 _The next day, Regina does not go in to the office. Instead, she spends the day with her mother and Ruby, strolling about Augusta to see the sights. Mostly they steer away from heavy discussion of the troubled past or the harrowing future, preferring to remain present in the now, in a time where Regina has her mother back and her mother has her daughter back and both of them have Ruby who, without even trying, serves as an adamantine adhesive uniquely suited to repairing their long-shattered bonds one tiny fragment at a time._

 _There are many such outings over the next four months. Most of them involving Henry. With Ruby's help, Regina overcomes her fear for the sake of her son, who deserves a chance to know his grandmother even though he won't remember it. But that's okay, because Ruby documents nearly every moment with her phone, taking more pictures and videos in that span than she ever has or will. They are precious reminders that Regina will return to time and again when she needs to know that she was not just a means to an end for the woman who travailed thirteen hours to bring her into this world, but that she was loved. Just as her mother declares with her dying breaths._

" _Regina...come here."_

 _Cora weakly waves Regina over, and she follows her mother's final command with a stone in her gut and a burning in her heart that has her eyes stinging with acidic tears. By now, the cancer has so devoured the imposing frame that once sent bolts of fear arcing down her spine that all that is left is a shriveled up mass of skin and bones uncomfortably arranged upon the bed provided by hospice. Breathing ragged, heart rate erratic, her mother yet manages to summon enough strength to deliver one final message. And so clear are those familiar brown eyes in those final moments that Regina doesn't even bother to prevent or interrupt the heroic effort needed to speak even the scant few words that permanently sear into vault of her memory._

" _I need...you to...know," her mother says. "You would have been...enough. I love...you...Regina. You would have...been...enou…"_

 _The sonorous wail of the heart monitor going flat is what announces the passage of Cora Mills._

* * *

For the longest time, Regina did not believe in ghosts. But that day as she completes the Oath of Office, and the crowd begins to cheer uproariously, and the cannons fire their cacophonous salute, a warm wind blows in from the southwest. The direction her mother often stared off into in the rare moments she lowered her armor. The direction where, over two thousand miles away, her hometown still stood sentinel upon the border, a melting pot between cultures which so aptly represents the day and what Regina and her family have to offer the American people.

She knows in that moment that her mother is with her. That she's in the breeze brushing the hair back that has fallen loose from her bun and against her cheek which blooms with warmth as if touched by a gentle hand. That she's in the whisper of the wind in her ear, a velvet, airy declaration of pride and love that makes Regina want to bawl her eyes out like a little baby. And that, most importantly, she's in Regina's heart, having never left since they finally built that most impossible Golden Gate that spanned the yawning gulf which once kept them isolated from one another. Her mother will live on. She'll live on in Regina's memories. And she'll live on in Henry, and in the little beans that Regina cannot wait to hold in her arms less than eight months from now.

The breeze blows over her a second time as Ruby barrels into her arms. Regina laughs as tears roll down her cheeks, thankful for her mother's approval both for her accomplishments and for her exceptionally magnificent choice in a partner with whom to share them.

She is so full of joy and love by the time she takes the podium to make her Inaugural Address that feels as though she is about to burst apart at the seams. The smile she wears is as far from fake as the east is from the west, and it illuminates her face during the opening passages of the speech that will prove to be the launching point of eight years worth of struggles and triumphs, of Marianas lows and Everest highs, and of love and laughter the likes of which she's never experienced. Decades from now, they will call her administration Camelot Done Right. But to Regina, it is simply the best, most satisfying, most thrilling, most challenging time of her life.

"President Goodwin, Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. Vice President, distinguished members of Congress," she begins, her voice booming through the loudspeakers and the face of every man, woman, and child below fixed upon her in respectful awe. "Twelve score and nine years ago our forefathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. My fellow Americans, it is an honor to stand here before you today. And while we are not engaged in a great Civil War, nor are we met upon a battlefield consecrated by the blood of patriots, we are a nation nonetheless at odds.

"Have we so soon forgotten the travails that birthed the precious gift so hopefully bequeathed unto us by those who came before us? Or have we merely become so embroiled in our troubles and enamored of our own petty differences that we have lost sight that we are all Americans? That we all hold fast – or should so hold – to the principles outlined within our Founding Documents? Do we not still hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all of us are created equal, that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among which are Life, Liberty, and pursuit of Happiness? I believe within my heart that those precious Truths remain entrenched to this day within the very genetic makeup of Americans from every walk of life.

"From those whose personal wealth rivals lesser nations to the most lowly of us lacking even two pennies to rub together, we all desire to be treated fairly, for our right to life to be respected, for our freedoms to not be infringed upon at the whims of and for our happiness to be unhindered by either persons or the government. These are the universal desires of the human heart that cannot be stolen by thief or destroyed by force, but which abide forever, passed on from generation to generation in poem, and song, and story. They are the foundational aspirations of the human spirit that survive unimpeded despite the best efforts of those whose sole purpose is to conquer that which is unconquerable and to dominate that which can know no master.

"For too long, the machinery and power structures of self-serving bureaucracy have conspired to deprive ordinary Americans from their pursuit of the dream that once moved hearts far beyond our shores to seek entry into the Land of Promise. Those same powers would gladly see all but an elite few remain stranded to wander aimlessly in the Wilderness. Shall we wait forty years for our Joshua to arise? Shall we be deprived of an entire generation of talents, of hopes, and of dreams that may see us to the stars or deliver answers to questions the greatest scientists of yesterday could only grasp by the most perilous of fraying threads? Shall we languish without permanent home, without joy, without peace, and without a purpose to define our very existence? Or shall we, as did our forebears, take our destiny into our own hands, wrenching it from the cold grasp of our imperial overlords in order to forge a better, nobler, more honorable path for ourselves and for our families to trod upon even after we have returned to the dust?

"I, for one, and moved by the spirit of Independence that inspired one Patriot to so boldly declare to his fellow Virginians, ' _Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!_ ' This day, I echo that clarion call to arms, not to a battlefield of earthen clay as our warrior predecessors so valiantly struggled upon, but one of minds and hearts and souls. My brothers and sisters, we are all engaged in this warfare, whether we wish to acknowledge it or not. It is, as Patrick Henry said in his day, already upon us! The opening shots were fired long before any of us ever drew breath, and though many have fallen in the waging, it is not yet lost!

"Victory can still be ours. Triumph is there for the taking. But I fear we cannot prevail, nor can we endure another season, lest we once again learn the lesson so often taught in history, that ' _a house divided against itself cannot stand._ ' To do this, we must first shake off the chains of oppression keeping captive our minds to insidious lies designed to sap our vitality and numb us to Truth; and we must then break free from the shackles binding our hearts from accessing the love that dwells inside us all: for our fellow man, for our country, and for our neighbors north or south or across the seas. Only then can we stand, united, one nation, under God to those who believe and to those who do not, the Law, but to all our beloved Constitution of the United States.

"Make no mistake, the invisible hands of the helmsmen who have subtly co-opted the wheel of our great ship will not surrender control willingly. But therein lies the brilliance of our unique system of government. For the solution is presented within the Constitution itself, within the hallowed instructions establishing for posterity the government of the people, by the people, for the people. We, my fellow Americans, are the vessels in whom our ancestors entrusted their hopes for a better world and to whom they bestowed the power to change our destiny without need to unsheathe the sword or load the musket. The ballot is our bullet. Let us then for these next four years wield it with pure intent and deadly accuracy. Let my resounding election by a margin unseen since the days of the Second World War be our Shot Heard Round The World. Let it be our Declaration that we are no longer content to live as serfs upon land consecrated by the blood our fathers, and let it be our signature upon the document, so bold as Hancock's, that none may overlook it.

"Now, it is certainly true that many issues aside from our unwieldy federal bureaucracies await us. It is my intention, as President, to ensure that our Laws are fairly enforced while seeking to assuage long-standing grievances which must be addressed for us to move forward as nation. We must not allow tradition to stifle progress, but neither should we permit forward social, economic, and military momentum to suffocate the principles that allowed this, the greatest country to ever grace the earth, to flourish these two hundred forty-nine years. Things must change, of that we are certain, and yet the core values woven seamlessly into the fabric of our society must remain undiminished.

"Our eyes are not so dimmed that we cannot see our troubles, from the epidemic of drug abuse in virtually every corner of the land to the proliferation of weaponry designed for only one purpose: to kill on an industrial scale. There are still Americans whose nights are spent deprived of shelter, whose bellies are woefully acquainted with the raw ravages of hunger. Our veterans suffer unforgivable indignities still, having incurred the price of freedom through unimaginable sacrifice. How, then, can we bear the burdens of a world still mired in darkness when we cannot provide the necessities of life to our own countrymen? My friends, we have so many blessings upon our tables, and have strength that our good fortune, hard work, and gracious Providence has provided. But we must recall, as the Apostle Paul did to the Elders at Ephesus, that we who are strong must support those who are weak, while remembering the words of the Lord, ' _that He said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive_."'

"A glimpse at any newspaper, blog, or news broadcast will reveal that so very many trials lie ahead on this, our path to a better future. I take comfort, however, in knowing that American hearts are the largest of all. I know this because I see it as I live out my own American Dream. My beloved wife, with whom I have shared my life some nine years now, has daily awed me with her generosity, her patience, her boundless compassion, and her infinite stores of love. I am who I am because of her, because she does not see greatness in me, but my fragile humanity, and yet loves, accepts, cherishes, and yes, even adores me for it, just as I do her. And I see it in our son, whose indefatigable optimism inspires me to be a better mother, a better wife, a better friend, and a better public servant. The hope that lives inside him and shines within his eyes assures me that yesterday's failures and today's disappointments will be erased by the dawning of tomorrow's promising sun. Darkness reigns only in the absence of light. ' _Weeping may endure for a night. But joy comes in the morning!_ '

"But beyond the comforts of my own heart and hearth, so many of you, my fellow citizens, have bolstered my confidence through sharing your own resilient character to me in firm handshakes, words of encouragement, and generous gifts that I have accepted in my heart even though, for propriety's sake, I had to refuse them. I know the pulse of our nation. I have walked our streets and trod our dusty paths from coast to coast. I have cradled your children in my arms. I have heard your lamentations, seen your tears, and rejoiced with you in happiness. I believe in our common destiny because I believe in you. Now, the impetus is upon you to believe in yourself. It is my most fervent prayer that, as I serve you according to my most solemn oath, my faith in you will translate into the confidence required for us to rise above our troubles, to recognize the gale winds of change now stirring in earnest and steer into them without fear, and to peer into the distance and see with eyes clear and bright a day to come in which the vaunted potential of our great nation will transform into glorious reality.

"However long my administration lasts, be it four years or eight, it very well may be that I am not privileged to see our great work finished. Indeed, as our esteemed Thirty-fifth President foresaw, this labor may perhaps be too much for even an entire generation. But that does not preclude us or excuse us from beginning. Nay, I say it is our duty to our country, our obligation to our families, and our responsibility to our neighbors to pick up the shovel and put our shoulder to the plow, that what we commence here today will, with full assurance, be completed.

"We are the harbingers of a destiny that, while new to us, is also as old as the human condition. It is a place where self-evident Truths are no longer contested, where dreams are not cut short by those lacking compassion or imagination, and where every man, woman, boy, and girl can freely exercise the breadth and depth and height of their talents. It is a land that flows with the milk of youthful vitality and the honey of experienced wisdom. That is where I long to be. My friends, I know in my heart that you share my yearning for our blessed Canaan. Therefore, let us endeavor to reach it, not forsaking those things which elevate us above simple beasts, those things which we have been shown to be good: to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with both God and man.

"On this journey, I am with you until the end. I thank you for your trust, a commodity more precious than any valuation of men. As a token of my gratitude, I leave you with this prayer given to Moses in the hopes that, as the Children of Israel, we too shall some day soon cross together over Jordan and enter in to our reward: ' _The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine down upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace._ '"

The crowd erupts in a cheer so voluminous that it shakes the ground and ripples the air. Regina is overcome with pride, not so much in herself as in her nation. Against all odds, the people had unearthed the courageous spirit of Liberty that birthed America to elect not only the second consecutive female President, but the first in a nontraditional marriage as well as the first since Fillmore to be unaffiliated with either of the major parties. It feels to her like a defining moment. Like Lexington and Concord. Like the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Like Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown. Like Appomattox Courthhouse. A moment where the shackles of oppressive traditionalism have been loosed so that a new nation could arise, one that might finally live up to the potential the forefathers hoped for but could not manifest in their own lifetimes. That she has been chosen to spearhead this movement, this groundswell of positive, constructive, patriotic fervor is the greatest professional honor she's ever received.

Now, the real work begins. Daunting as it is, she has so much support that she believes in her heart of hearts the coming years will be transformative in ways she couldn't possibly have anticipated. And when it all gets to be too much, she knows there are inexhaustible springs of inspiration upon which she can draw. How can she fail when she has the prayers and well-wishes of eighty-five million voters propelling her ever forward, and Ruby's strong arms and endless love to keep her grounded?

Buffeted by the outstandingly ebullient reception of her countrymen, Regina is all smiles as she shakes the hands of her fellow public servants. All of them give her their best wishes for the future along with their assurances they can't wait to work with her to make a better America. Few of them actually mean it. There are no illusions for her as to the resistance she will encounter from politicians whose sole concern is leveraging their positions to further line their pockets. She'd run on an Independent platform as an alternative to the disconnected establishment, partly as some kind of latent rebellion against her mother – who was a staunch partisan Republican – and mostly because she's simply gotten sick of overpaid, over-fed infants blocking all progress for the sake of personal gain. And while she expects to have to fight tooth and nail to make her campaign promises a reality, she was prepared from youth to wage these wars, and has her own experience from her time as a mayor, a state senator, and a governor upon which to draw.

 _The old goats won't know what hit them_ , she thinks, wryly smiling as she shakes the hand of a five term Senator from Texas who embodies everything counter to her message of unity. They all think she'll be a pushover, that she won't be able to form a mandate as an Independent, that she'll have no backing from either side of the partisan aisle. But they're wrong. The Nation is overwhelmingly with her, and so are a great deal of the junior politicians whose idealism has not yet been suffocated to death by Washington's systemic corruption. Getting them to stand with her publicly won't be easy, but then again nothing has ever come easily for Regina.

Batting away such thoughts for another day, she ignores the stuffy suits in lieu of embracing her wife and child. Pride suffuses Ruby's entire body as she hugs and kisses Regina far more enthusiastically than is acceptable at such a highly publicized venue, and Henry's little arms wind so tightly around her legs that the circulation nearly gets cut off. She lifts him up into her arms after another kiss from Ruby, and they huddle together for a group hug that doesn't last nearly long enough for Regina's liking while at the same time going on far longer than it should. But she doesn't complain, nor does she care that the First Family is making a scene on the Inaugural platform. It's been a good day. An amazing day. A day that she will never forget. Nor, history will prove, the nation.

* * *

 **Epilogue**

 _ **8 Years Later**_

It's the last day of Ruby's whirlwind of a life serving as First Lady. She has mixed feelings about leaving behind the sprawling mansion she's called home during her eight years of service. On one hand, the perpetual bustle about the place made it difficult for her to rest, so she'll be glad to be back in Maine where life takes on a gradual, unhurried pace, sort of like a gently meandering stream. But on the other hand, she is going to miss the place. Foreboding as it is in size and imposing with its rich history, the White House is where she raised her children.

Henry is now thirteen, having been five when Regina entered office, and the twins, Luna and Lara, are eight. The girls know no other home but the White House, a residence once lived in by such legendary figures as Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, and JFK. Hell, Henry hardly remembers living in Augusta, whereas to Ruby and Regina, the recollection of their time in the Governor's Mansion is vibrant and precious. To their son, though, it is but a dim recollection that only surfaces in flashes. But he does recall nearly all of their time in Washington, and that gives the place a fondness for him that the rest of the family can't quite match. He has been sullen and withdrawn lately, not only at leaving behind the place he'd transitioned from childhood into a moody teenager, but at having to part from so many friends at the school he will no longer attend come spring. The children, more so than their parents, are going to struggle to adapt to new circumstances, and for that reason alone, Ruby almost wishes they could stay. But stay they cannot, as Secret Service is waiting to escort her family to Marine One, which will ferry them back to Augusta, where they will reside for a month or two while the expansive renovations to Regina's family home in Storybrooke are being completed.

Even though the deadline for departure is rapidly approaching, Ruby cannot resist the urge to make one final gesture to the incoming administration, something in her typical panache. Inspiration had struck the night before, and she already has prepared the sheets torn from the order pad she'd once used at Granny's Diner for the sole purpose of wooing one Regina Mills. Folded neatly, the pages contain a message to Regina's successor, a Senator from California named Aaron Wainright, meant to pass on what wisdom she's learned as First Lady. If it eases the burden upon the new Commander-in-Chief only a little, she'll consider it time well spent.

With a mischievous grin, she sneaks away from Regina, the kids, and Emma, who are saying their farewells to some of the staff staying on in transition that Ruby has already hugged more than she probably should have. They had only endured her overt display of gratitude because they were long accustomed to her tactile nature. Come to think of it, the staff got used to all sorts of improper behavior from their young, brash, and fierce First Lady – whom the Secret Service jokingly code-named 'Big Bad Wolf,' not only because she sometimes huffed and puffed loud enough to blow the house down during one of her famously volcanic rows with the President, but because they'd noticed her penchant for wearing jewelry depicting the moon or said animals.

Once, she'd barged in to a meeting Regina was having with the Secretary of State, Bobby Gold, and demanded the room be vacated immediately. That dramatic interruption even made the news. Not that Ruby gave a whit. She'd been far too concerned with Regina's mental and physical health to let the elitist snobbery of a bunch of crusty old journalists deter her from fulfilling her spousal oath.

* * *

 _Two covered dishes containing matching hearty breakfasts in hand, Ruby is a woman on a mission. For the second morning in a row, she'd woke up to an empty bed, meaning Regina had worked through the night. Again. The woman is a notorious workaholic, but honestly it is beginning to get ridiculous. Since assuming office three months ago, Regina has only been afforded a handful of reprieves to spend time with her family, and that was woefully insufficient for all of them._

 _Back in Augusta, they'd grown accustomed to spending the evenings together as a family, and at first, that tradition held in Washington. But only for about a week. Then a series of events unfolded that placed increasing demand upon Regina to be present at all hours. Since, it's been one thing after another. Henry hasn't seen his mother in two days. Ruby her wife for more than one-and-a-half. And it's been six weeks since they had sex. Six weeks! Before this stretch, Ruby can't remember going without for six days! She feels so pent up that she's ready to explode, and that is aside from the frustrations inherent in her own hectic schedule and her rampaging pregnancy hormones._

 _All of that, she's decided, is going to change. She's making an executive decision, never mind that she's not an actual executive. But shouldn't a First Lady have at least some privileged sway concerning her spouse's attention? Ruby certainly thinks so. She hadn't stopped being a wife when she became First Lady. Her vows are still relevant, written in stone upon the tables of her heart. Part of those vows was to stand by her woman no matter what. How's she supposed to do that when a nigh-on-impenetrable barrier of endless meetings and secret service agents has been erected to keep her from Regina's side? How's she supposed to provide the dutiful support Regina's grown accustomed to receiving since they married while she was Governor of Maine if she's always being kept from Regina by some crisis or another in a seemingly infinite line?_

 _And it's not that she isn't confident of Regina's ability to handle the job. Quite the opposite. Ruby believes with all of her heart Regina was born for this, born to be the great unifier a tired, jaded, divided country so desperately needs. Hell, she wouldn't have been the one pushing Regina to take this step if she hadn't been absolutely convinced that Regina brought something to the table that was sorely needed in their day and age. Only, she hadn't expected to be relegated to the sidelines. She'd been operating under the assumption they would tackle this thing like they did everything else since they went public: together._

 _Besides, there are issues at play that are far more personal to Ruby, and every bit as vital in her opinion. It's hard as it is sleeping in a strange house where her overly sensitive ears are constantly assaulted by noise at all hours of the night, but to do so is nearly impossible without Regina curled up around her, holding her close, warm breath tickling the back of her neck while a firm hand is pressed open palmed against her gently swelled belly or resting protectively over her heart. She needs Regina, always has and always will, and she's not about to let a little thing like responsibility over a nation of nearly four hundred million people come between them._

 _As she approaches the Oval, she's greeted with almost uniform warmth. The staff always treats her with respect that goes beyond her station, and Ruby knows that it's mostly because she's unrelentingly sweet and goes the extra mile to make sure they know how much she appreciates their hard work and dedication and incredible skill. That, and she cooks for them. A lot actually. Regina is no slouch in the kitchen herself, but Ruby co-opted that domestic obligation often as she could when they got married. Cooking reminds her of being a kid and helping Granny prep breakfast for the diner, then later on in high school laboring the long hours in the kitchen on her days off and during the long breaks to take some of the pressure off her aging grandmother's back. The skillet burns and knife slices she'd accrued still marred her skin, and Ruby wore them as badges of honor. She'd grown up appreciating the value of hard work right along with the immense gratification produced by providing so essential a need as a delicious meal for other hard working folks. So she sneaks the staff treats whenever she can, such as her Granny's famous Indian pudding or Regina's favorite apple pie recipe, even while they're on duty. Her Secret Service detail, in particular, loves her for that, though they are less enthusiastic about her tendency to hug them or give them noisy kisses on the cheek when they've held a door open for her or some other innocuous gesture that is just part of their job. She mainly just does that so she can giggle while watching the stoic men and women somehow manage to turn beet red without ever breaking decorum._

 _Regina's secretary, a lovely young lady named Frances McIver, hails Ruby as she approaches the desk. But when Ruby ignores her to go right in, Frances – whom everyone on staff secretly refers to as Tinker Bell because of her diminutive statue and fairy-like personality – stands abruptly, crying about an important meeting and Ruby can't go in there and please stop she doesn't want to get in trouble. Ruby calmly declares she'll smooth things over and not to worry, but she's going in._

 _And that she does. Shoulders squared, jaw set, she erupts through the door as if Mt. Saint Ruby having too long built up pressure and finally exploding when her tolerance snaps._

" _Everybody out," she orders, and watches with satisfaction as most of the personnel, two of them in crisp military dress uniforms, scatter like insects. Ruby doesn't flinch when Bobby Gold, Regina's ultra-shrewd, bitingly sarcastic Secretary of State turns to snarl at her._

 _Ruby shrugs off his displeasure with practiced nonchalance. Frankly the man has never approved of her. She once overheard him tell Regina that she was making a mistake marrying Ruby, that Ruby was nothing but a pretty-faced simpleton who would inevitably drag Regina down and blunt the razor-sharp edges that made her so ruthless and efficient in the political sphere. Of course, Regina pretty much threw him out of her office, but the words stuck in Ruby's craw for a long time. Eventually she got over it because Gold was too good at his job for her to permit his dislike of her to hurt Regina's career. Which is ultimately the only reason Regina kept him around. One of these days, though, when there wouldn't be as many repercussions, Ruby is gonna wipe that sneer right off his face. The bastard._

" _We're conducting important business here, Miss Lucas," he says, condescension rolling off him in waves._

" _That's Mrs. Mills or First Lady Mills to you," Ruby corrects, refusing to allow his acerbic wielding of her maiden name to throw her off. Gold is a lot like Regina, an attack hound that does a bunch of barking and only bites when pushed too far. Her acquired ability to handle her tempestuous spouse makes the vertically unimposing but otherwise intimidating man pretty standard fare. "And I know this is important," she adds when he starts to castigate her further, "but it can wait fifteen minutes. Now get the hell out and let me share a damn meal with my wife!"_

 _Brow arching, Gold looks to Regina, who sigh and then verbalizes instruction for him to do as Ruby has asked. Only then does he get up to depart. Ruby doesn't miss his pointed, snake-like glare as he passes by, but she ignores it in the same way she does all the other equally vicious glares he shoots her just about every time they have to suffer one another's presence. Feeling snippy herself, she sticks her tongue at him childishly, causing him to roll his eyes in annoyance. Once he's gone, Ruby exhales heavily, puff of breath ruffling the hair swept over her forehead and tucked behind her ear._

" _Now that we're alone...I brought you breakfast," she says, indicating with her head toward the plates in her hand._

 _Regina nods, expression on the wrong side of aggravation. "I can see that. Couldn't it have waited? Gold wasn't wrong. That was a significant meeting you just interrupted."_

 _Dealing with Gold's lip was bad enough. But Ruby is not in the mood to get it from Regina, too. Puffing out her chest, she stomps up to the Resolute Desk, places the dishes down upon the surface, then leans over it to glare at her wife._

" _Tough shit," she says, and Regina's brows shoot up to her hairline at her forceful tone. "You've not been to bed in two nights, and I can see the exhaustion in your eyes. I know your job is important, believe me. But you're more important."_

" _I'm not. No one is more impo..."_

 _Ruby cuts off the tiresome deflection. It's been Regina's go-to for the past six weeks to shrug off her familial responsibilities. Well, not only is Ruby not having that anymore, it's just patently absurd._

" _I mean to me," she says, exasperated at having to explain this. "You're the servant of the people, duly elected, blah, blah, I get all that. But I'm not. And to me, you're more important! I'm your wife, Regina. It's my job to look after you. Especially when you stop doing so yourself."_

 _Regina deflates, looking defeated and weary all of the sudden. "I suppose I have been neglectful of my own needs of late."_

 _Feeling a little sorry for her outburst, Ruby crosses round the desk, then perches on the corner. She takes Regina's hand between her two, then holds her eyes fast. "To say the least. Look, babe. I'm not trying to come between you and the job you were elected to do. I just..." She trails off, nibbling at her bottom lip, which has Regina looking guilty because she's beginning to understand now how much of an effect her behavior is having on Ruby – and by extension, Henry._ It's progress _, Ruby thinks, then says aloud, "I just want you to take fifteen minutes for yourself. For us. Okay? Just fifteen minutes to sit here with me and eat breakfast. I cooked it myself. Made your favorite, even."_

 _Regina ponders the request for a moment, and when it looks like she's about to offer the same old tired excuse, Ruby breaks out the big guns. Jutting out her bottom lip, batting her lashes, drawing her brows together, and then to make sure she's gone all out, adds little puppy dog whines at the end that have Regina sighing at the same time as her lips quirk up at the corners._

" _Oh, fine," Regina says, rolling her eyes in a much more becoming way than Bobby Gold had moments earlier. "You know I can't say no to your pouting. Or your chocolate chip waffles..."_

 _Emboldened by her success, Ruby's pout instantly transforms into a saucy leer. "That's not the only thing of mine you can't say no to."_

 _Regina chuckles, cheeks reddening. "Down girl. Keep it in your pants til tonight. I'll be to bed on time."_

" _Promise?"_

 _Ruby hates how insecure she sounds when she asks, but she can't help it. She knows her wife too well, knows how much pressure Regina puts on herself to the best she possibly can be at every single thing she attempts. It's that insufferable refusal to lose that has propelled her over hurdles no one else could have overcome and stayed not only sane over the course of the race but a truly good person. But that same drive to be the best at all costs can also be an impediment to her private life, which is why Ruby has to occasionally put her foot down. Even to the President of the United States._

 _POTUS, Regina may be, but at the end of the day she's still Ruby's wife, and Ruby knows how important it is that she keep treating Regina that way to keep her grounded. To keep them all grounded really. It is a necessity in this cesspool of illicit affairs and unchecked corruption. To borrow one of Regina's favorite metaphors, if they didn't nurture the tree, it would wither and die. And Ruby would rather die than to see that happen to their love. So she makes a vow to herself to keep pushing like this. If the bigwigs hate her for it, so be it. They can suck it. It's not her fault everyone in power has compromised their integrity and sacrificed their relationships to get ahead. She won't let that happen to herself or to Regina. Over her dead body._

" _I promise," Regina says, snapping Ruby's train of thoughts. "Then we can see about cooking up something entirely different."_

 _Ruby flushes with delightful anticipation. "Ooo! Now you've got me all excited." She waggles her finger in warning at Regina, who is smiling wolfishly at her. "You better not let me down or there will be hell to pay, Missy!"_

" _I wouldn't dream of it, darling," Regina says, voice silken smooth like it is when she's peeling Ruby's clothes off. Damn the woman's voice. It's like velvet butter and blazing jalapenos all at once. Smooth but with a bite. A country singer once crooned in sonorous baritone how tequila made his muse's clothes fall off. Well, Regina's voice does that for Ruby. Unfortunately, the bedroom tone is gone as abruptly as it came on, replaced by that authoritarian timbre that Ruby knows better than to contradict. "Now. Stop being a tease and let me have my waffles."_

 _Ruby feigns being offended. "So demanding. Do you treat the staff this way?"_

" _If by that you mean let them get away with running off the Secretary of State, two of the top brass in the US military, two Senators and five Congressmen? I most certainly don't."_

" _Well..." Ruby trails off a second, feeling chagrined at exactly who she'd so brazenly dismissed in her tizzy. "I didn't know who was in here. I just...I just needed you, and I couldn't wait, and..."_

 _Regina gives her hand a squeeze. "Ruby. It's alright. I'm not upset."_

" _You're not?"_

" _Why would I be? You're just being you. The woman I love more than anyone else in the world, who for some reason puts up with my stubbornness on a daily basis."_

 _Ruby melts at the declaration. Just like that, all of her irritation flees. Regina has that super-power. Like Emma's ability to detect a lie, Regina can, with just a few words, completely disarm whatever mood Ruby has been in._

" _And always will," she says, so full of adoration for this woman that she is practically oozing it out of every pore._

 _After a moment of silently reaffirming their devotion, Ruby busies herself unwrapping their breakfasts while Regina clears a space off her desk. They tuck into their meals right there at the Resolute, and though it doesn't escape Ruby that they're breaking protocol and tradition in so many ways, she can't bring herself to care too much. Not when that's what they got elected to do, to be different, to think outside the box and act accordingly. They are not a conventional couple, even beyond the obvious, and that is something Ruby is determined to maintain, however much the struggle to preserve it will sometimes make her want to pull her hair out._

 _As they eat, conversation sparks up about Henry, which segues nicely into to some long overdue tactile affection after their plates have been cleaned._

 _Probably none of this would have made the front page of the paper if Frances hadn't let the gaggle of reporters from various agencies into the Oval as scheduled – that without checking what was going on inside first. Unfortunately for Ruby, her timing is impeccable when it comes to embarrassing herself, and upon entry, the reporters get an eyeful of her straddling Regina in her chair, blouse unbuttoned to the navel and skirt halfway rucked up with Regina's hands wandering precariously northward while they made out like a couple of teenagers. In her haste to cook and get breakfast to Regina, she'd not even worn pantyhose! And Regina had been so tantalizingly close to tugging her bra down with her teeth to get at her straining nipples which were practically begging for attention by that point. Damn hormones._

 _The sound of the intruders' chorused gasp had Ruby stiffening and tearing free from Regina's addictive lips. Craning her neck, eyes widened in horror, she was met by a dozen pairs of equally bulging eyeballs. Everything went still for an awfully mortifying second as the reporters stared at Ruby and her mostly uncovered assets and she stared back while Regina just sat beneath her, eerily silent. A couple of intrepid individuals were fast enough to pull out their phones and take surreptitious photographs before Ruby could clamber off her wife and then straighten herself up. Once presentable, she left with as much dignity as she could muster, which wasn't much to say the least. She'd honestly thought it worse than the walk of shame she'd endured slinking back to the apartment over the Diner after that first night she'd stayed over with Regina. Granny never did let her live that down. And she has the sneaking suspicion these reporters won't either. Nor will Regina for that matter, who is likely to hold this against Ruby for some time._

 _But rather than hearing excuses from Regina or threats about what was seen not being revealed on pain of excessively harsh punishment, she hears a delightfully smug comment aimed at the still-gawking reporters, "Well, what can I say? I'm a lucky woman." And when Ruby glances back over her shoulder, Regina gives her a salacious wink that has her blushing to the roots of her hair. She leaves the Oval with a grin on her face that doesn't depart for nearly an hour._

* * *

That isn't the only time things got randy in the Oval, but it is the only time they got caught. Thankfully. As much of an exhibitionist as she is, having her ass and tits nearly hanging out that one time upon the front page of the New York Times is quite enough for her. Contrary to the assertions of internet trolls and some particularly nasty commentators, she could never have made it in porn. Honestly, strutting around the house naked or seducing the President inside the Oval in broad daylight is _not_ the same as banging some perfect stranger on camera for a mediocre payday. And while she and Regina have dabbled in taping some of their more adventurous forays into sexual experimentation, they are fastidious about keeping a tight lid on those potentially explosive, highly personal video files and have been extra careful to keep them extra secure.

Only once is Ruby stopped on the way to the office containing so many good memories, not only of the occasional romp she and Regina indulged in there, but of all the times they commiserated with Emma over White House gossip, worked together through the night on some important piece of legislation, or allowed Henry and the girls to play as their mothers worked on various projects. The Secret Service agent who runs into Ruby is assigned to accompany the family back to Maine and thereafter remain posted with them for at least the next four years. His name is Stan Umbright, and around the White House, they'd taken to calling him the Tin Man because of how mechanical he could be in his movements and speech. He also happened to be smitten with Ruby's sister-in-law, a sentiment she is pretty sure Zelena returns. Ruby bribes him to give her five minutes in the Oval with a month's supply of heart-healthy, home-made deer jerky she plans to make once she's back home in Maine and can go bow hunting again.

As she enters the Oval Office, her wheels are turning as to how she can get her sister-in-law and the man she has grown to respect and love as a friend to get their heads out of their asses about each other. She's still plotting how to arrange 'accidental' alone time for them at luncheons and family outings as she exits the office not two minutes later. The message is in place, and with it, her duty to the country has officially been discharged.

Ruby leaves the White House forever, a satisfied smile on her face, feeling buoyed by a belief that she and Regina have left an indelible impression behind upon the People's House. She hopes that decades from now, historians will look back on the administration fondly and with admiration for the strides the country has taken under Regina's steady hand, brilliant mind, and unwavering will. As with every administration before them, the work they accomplished fell short of their lofty goals, but Ruby thinks they've laid the groundwork for the incoming regime to build upon. There is a long way to go, she knows, for America to realize the vast potential she posses as a nation, but she hopes the new President and his First Lady pick up the torch left behind for them and carry it further toward the finish line. And she hopes her message hits home. To her immense delight, it does.

" _Hi, as u may kno, I'm Ruby Mills, ex-FLOTUS extraordinaire_ ," it reads. " _I just wanted 2 leave u this note in the style I use w/Regina as they always make her feel better however crappy her day has been. I want 2 encourage u not only becuz I genuinely wish u well but becuz I kno the trials u & ur family r about to face. I walked thru them 8 damn years. I won't lie or sugarcoat the truth. Heinous shit is gonna go down while ur here that will make u question ur decision 2 run 4 office. U'll question the innate goodness of humanity cuz ppl u thot u could trust r gonna stab u in the back at the 1_ _st_ _opportunity. Life is gonna suck because of it, & there r gonna b stretches of weeks at a time ur gonna long 4 the days when ur babies first came home & u were living on 2 hrs or less of sleep per nite. _

" _BUT! It ain't all doom & gloom. There r gonna be good times, too! The best of times. Ur gonna laugh urself silly cuz the staff here is a HOOT if u get off the high horse of a politician 4 a minute or 2 & get 2 kno them. Ur gonna make friends that u will cherish 4 the rest of ur life, from BOTH sides of the aisle. U will gain a new, deeper appreciation 4 the nation 'cuz u've walked it's hills & valleys, seen it's gorgeous prairies & vast oceans, gawked in awe of canyons & mountains, & interacted w/ its amazing citizens. U r also gonna watch ur family flourish here, blossom even, in a place u used 2 think couldn't grow jack shit 'cept rotten fruit. But it's not true! There is good here, good ppl, good intentions, good hearts. Nurture those & then do like Regina did 2 the bad apples: toss those useless bitches out the window!_

" _When u r feeling lonely & isolated, which u will when u need 2 make impossible decisions, remember this chair is NOT the loneliest in the world. Contrary 2 the experts & basic logic, it seats 2 comfortably if u get creative! ;) If u luv ur partner in life & she luvs u half as much as Regina & I do each other, she will always b w/ u in ur heart. & when no one else is there 4 u to lean on, if u set aside ur damned pride 4 a minute, she will be right there by ur side whenever u need her. She'll be ur best friend, ur best advisor, ur best sounding board, & most importantly she won't blow smoke up ur ass just 2 shamelessly glean favor like ¾ of D.C. Avail urself of that invaluable resource! Regina, amazing as she is, wudn't have made it on her own any more than I can on mine. We need each other. We complete each other. We r a team 4ever. Not even the Presidency & all its impositions culd change that 4 us. Wanna kno y? We refused 2 let it! Our marriage came 1_ _st_ _ & that made us both happier, healthier, & better at our jobs! So don't let anything – ANYTHING OR ANYONE – come between u 2. As sacred as the bond is between President & People, the bond between spouses is FAR deeper & INFINITELY more vital. She will be ur rock if u will be her champion, & I swear to u, it is a beautiful thing 2 witness when u tackle a problem 2gether! _

" _And last but not least, good luck 2 u! I don't agree with all ur policies, but I can get past most of that 4 the good u can do here. I_ _do_ _believe ur heart is in the right place. Plz, don't let this place corrupt u. When we met on the campaign trail, I was impressed by ur character & ur convictions. Stay strong & hold on 2 who u r against all odds! The naysayers are all morons & shills. It __is_ _possible to occupy this house & not loose ur soul. Regina did it. So can u! _

" _Finally, I kno Regina will b praying 4 u like the good Catholic she is & since I am not religious like the wifey, I'll send some positive vibes ur way on a daily basis! I left our personal #s with the SecServ Chief & instructed him 2 deliver it 2 u by hand, so if u need some friends who have been where u are, we're here 4 u day or nite. _

" _P.S. 4 a bit of fun, when u r announced at the SOTU address & the band starts 2 play, have ur wife or ur CoS shout, "Hail to the Chief, baby!" like Duke Nukem. Even better if they wear the sunglasses & act like they're smokin a cig! I did that one year, & believe it or not it helped loosen up some of the puckered up a-holes in that place. LOL! Luv, Ruby_"

 **The End**


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